AN: I hope you guys are still digging it! Again, I want to thank the awesome Greenloki for being the best beta in the world!

The Lover That Went Wrong

- Chapter Three -

"This is not good. This is not good!"

Tony shrieked as he deviated to the left, fire bolting toward him, blue flames hot enough to actually melt his suit – which in Tony's opinion was cheating. So perhaps his plan had flaws, but he was the kind of man that liked to learn by trial and error, and this particular error would be filed under 'never-piss-off-an-Asgardian-you-don't-know'. It should be a lesson he learned a long time ago, really.

"Jarvis?"

"Power's at fourteen percent, sir."

It was going to be a close call, but if he ended up winning this match, he deserved a fucking medal! How long had he been fighting now? Two hours? Three? With back-up he could easily take out the woman standing before him – the woman who shot another bolt of blue fire toward him – and seriously, what was it with all the fire? What had happened to good old fashioned bullets or swords since Asgardians liked those so much?

Heat spread through his suit when Tony hadn't been able to jump aside quickly enough. At the moment, the suit protected him as much as it slowed him down which was another nasty side-effect of magic.

"Argh, that's hot," He muttered, "And not the right kind of hot."

Lifting a hand, he shot a beam of pure energy at the Asgardian woman, only to find that she vanished into thin air, the energy connecting with a building across the street, rubble instantly falling down. Thank goodness the civilians had been evacuated, and thank goodness Fury wasn't around to witness this. The one-eyed pirate would smack his face into the ground for causing so much destruction. Then again, this wasn't entirely his fault, was it?

The woman reappeared directly behind him a moment later, which was another one of those irritating quirks Tony filed under cheating. A slender hand closed around the neck of his suit and the woman squeezed, the metal creaking dangerously. Tony could only swallow heavily. Oh-oh. Vivid green eyes pinned him down even though she couldn't actually see him.

"Do you surrender?" She asked sharply.

"Not really, no," Tony easily replied, fully aware of how breathless he sounded. He had meant to shoot another bolt of pure energy at her, her proximity working to her disadvantage, or so he had thought, but the blonde merely pushed aside his suited arm and threw him to the other side of the street.

When his back connected with the building behind him, Tony felt the last remnants of air being knocked straight out of his lungs.

He was in trouble.

Big trouble.

Glancing up, he found that the woman loomed over him – cheater – with a gaze that spoke only of irritation and determination. She was done playing. She going to kill him and Tony had no doubt that she held such power, but he wasn't going to lie down for her, roll over and die. He was far too stubborn for that.

Feeling the metal of his suit close around his throat as she continued to choke him, it became damn hard for Tony to breathe. He tried to knock her away from him, tried to shoot whatever he got left of firepower, but the woman merely growled.

He needed stronger firepower, something that would–

She was violently knocked away from him, the whooshing of Mjolnir trailing after her.

A shaky breath left Tony's lips.

The Captain's voice echoed through his suit.

"Stand back, Stark."

It wasn't an order Tony liked to hear, but he simply didn't have enough air in his lungs to protest, nor did he have enough strength left in his muscles to join the fight between the woman, Thor and Steve, but he wasn't particularly ashamed of that fact. He did just fight with her on his own for close to – he glanced at the clock in the top right corner of his screen – one hour. Huh, he could have sworn it had been longer.

Turning to witness the remainder of the battle, Tony expected the whole ruckus to be over soon, what with the God of Thunder having joined the club, because while the woman might be strong and magic, there was just no possible way she could beat Thor.

Only there was no fight and the blonde was nowhere in sight anymore. Wimp. She probably ran off the moment Mjolnir knocked all seven bells out of her.

Turning to face his teammates, Tony flipped open the mask of his suit, the cold, fresh air helping him drive away his exhaustion.

"What took you guys so long?" He asked as soon as he knew the others could hear him. Part of him was relieved that his tiredness wasn't audible in his voice, though he wondered just what his friends – more like acquaintances really – were seeing right now. He probably sported a few bruises to his face, maybe even a few cuts. He'd definitely lost a part of his eyebrow.

Fucking magical fire.

"What the hell, Stark?" Steve asked angrily, coming to a halt before Tony. He switched his shield to his other hand and for the shortest moment, Tony really thought Steve was going to punch him.

"Uhm, you're welcome?"

Steve's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You really thought you could take her on by yourself?" Nope, he was definitely not happy.

"Honestly, I don't even know who she is," Tony defended himself, rolling his eyes, which he shouldn't have done because he had a headache and now he had a few back spots in his vision, "Fury called, said a woman was destroying half of the town and I decided to show my good heart and put a stop to it. I couldn't have known she was Asgardian."

"You should have waited for us," Steve argued.

Ignoring him, Tony decided to focus on Thor instead. "So who is she? Another Asgardian hell-bent on taking over the Earth or is she more original than that?"

Thor shook his head as he focused on Tony – Tony who didn't miss the concern in his royal blue eyes. "Her name is Amora," He began, voice steady as always, his gaze shifting between Tony and Steve, "She is also known as The Enchantress. I do not know her business here on Earth, but it will not bode well for us."

"I see," Tony sighed.

"Does she work alone?" Steve asked, glancing around as if he was expecting another attack soon.

"She has a few known allies, one being–" No other words came and Tony felt how Thor's gaze landed heavily upon him suddenly. That was just great. Fantastic. Brilliant.

"You can say his name, guys," He muttered.

Steve awkwardly cleared his throat. "So she often works with Loki."

Loki. The name should do nothing to him, but Tony felt his chest tighten painfully anyway and wasn't that just ridiculous? He wished he could curse the name, curse the man behind the name, but Tony couldn't. He should be angry and hate him, he should feel his blood boil when thinking about him, but none of that happened. He only felt … numb, and perhaps that was for the best. It was less distracting

"Yes," Thor confirmed Steve's comment, "Though their last partnership was decades ago. It would surprise me if they were working together now."

"Then he doesn't matter," Tony said and he was well aware that those words had sounded just a bit too sharply to be ignored. When both Steve and Thor threw him concerned glances, he stared back at them, unwavering, challenging. "Let's just get out of here, okay? Amora will show up again and if she does, we'll be ready for her."

Neither Thor nor Steve dared to say more.

-/-

Tony was this close to grabbing the small device lying before him and throwing it against the wall. The mere idea of hearing it shatter into a dozen pieces pleased him, but then all of his work from the past few days would have been for nothing, and Tony never liked wasting time. No, he just had to find his focus again and keep working on it. All he needed was a breakthrough and he could get the weapon working.

Footsteps behind him distracted him, however, and one glance over his shoulder had him groaning in aggravation. It wasn't that he hadn't appreciated seeing a familiar face, but for whatever reason Steve had decided to come down to the workshop, Tony could already tell he wasn't going to like it.

"Here you are," Steve said kindly as he strolled into the spacious room. Curious eyes took in everything around him, but Tony doubted Steve knew what half of this stuff was for. On the other hand, Steve was smarter than most gave him credit for and he'd found the hang of his new life pretty easily. He'd even gotten the hang of the microwave!

"You sound surprised to find me here," Tony said. He kept his gaze fixed on the gun-shaped weapon before him, fingers swiftly connecting a few wires that had gotten loose during a flunked test.

"Actually, I'm not," Steve replied casually – too casually. Hands ghosted over several tools lying on a workbench to Tony's left and when he came across some old Chinese take-out he pulled a disgusted face. "When was the last time you left this place?"

Tony glanced up and narrowed his eyes for a moment, focusing on nothing in particular. "When did we fight Amora?"

"Four days ago."

"There's your answer then," He grinned. He began working on the weapon again, only to be zapped by low-current electricity when he wrongly connected two wires. It didn't hurt that much, but it did manage to draw a disgruntled 'fuck' from his lips–

–which Steve diplomatically ignored. "That does explain your dire need of a shower."

Did he smell that bad?

He smelled that bad.

Silence hung in the air for a moment and Tony didn't like it one bit. He looked up to find Steve staring at him, those bright blue eyes taking in every detail of Tony's appearance, and like hell was he going to let that happen, but before he could speak up, the Captain stepped forward until he stood at the opposite side of the workbench, his hands disappearing into the pockets of his jeans.

"Listen, Tony–"

"Don't Tony me."

Steve remained unfazed. "We're concerned."

"Who's we?"

"All of us," Steve replied with a tight voice. The hands in his pockets visibly turned into fists and Tony had to try his damn hardest not to break into a grin as he spotted Steve's unease. "You've been holed up in this basement for four days, Tony, even you've gotta admit that's not particularly healthy."

"You drew the short straw, didn't you?" Tony asked. He leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms before his chest. He could already tell that Steve hated every second he spent down here. Good. That meant he wasn't going to bother him again in the future.

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that I'm here as a concerned ally, a concerned friend. The stunt you pulled with Amora could have gotten you injured or worse, and now you're locking yourself away in here. You should be glad we didn't stage an intervention."

"Why thank you," Tony said, voice dripping with sarcasm which earned him a nasty glare from Steve, but whatever. He wasn't done being a dick just yet, however, not until Steve decided to leave him to his business. "You can spare me the lecture, Cap, I know what I'm doing. In fact, you should be thanking me because I'm working on a new weapon and if I can get this to work we'll never have to worry about an Asgardian again."

Steve's eyebrows shot up with abrupt interest. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really, so don't be so skeptical," Tony replied sharply. He didn't like to be doubted, but then again, it was the cynics that had always driven him. Seeing their disappointed faces as he proved them wrong over and over was what helped him sleep at night.

Only Steve had to ruin it all. "So are we talking about any Asgardian or a particular Asgardian?"

Tony's lips curled upward in a sneer. "You had to bring him up, didn't you?"

"Everyone knows that this is about Loki, about the break-up with you and–"

"I'm not sure we can technically speak of a break-up," Tony easily interjected. His heart was thumping violently within his chest and he hated that the mere idea of Loki provoked such a strong reaction. "The guy left and we haven't heard of him since. That was three months ago so something tells me that we don't have to worry about him for a long time to come."

Steve said nothing to that which Tony found even worse than any argument he could make.

"I'd like to focus on this again," Tony said with a voice that was much too soft to his own liking. He motioned to the device lying before him, though his gaze stayed locked with Steve's. "If I can get this working, and if I can get Thor to agree to do some tests, I could save us a lot of trouble in the future."

"Okay," Steve said, nodding. He stepped back from the workbench with a smile that was too sad and Tony wanted to wipe it from his patriotic face. "I'll leave you to it then, but do take a shower soon."

"Yeah, yeah."

-/-

Tony had decided a long time ago that life was unfair, but today life was just being a bitch. Not only had his new weapon blown up half of his workbench during a test, but a certain Asgardian harlot had decided that today was a perfect day for another attack as well. So Tony, side by side with Natasha for the moment, was busting his ass off trying to minimize the damage to the city while Thor was battling it out with Amora.

Rubble littered the streets and people were still scurrying around, panicked and screaming. Tony was just about to shout at a group of four men to head for the subway when a blast of fire knocked him off of his feet. Natasha hurried to his side.

"She hates me," He muttered, though loud enough for Natasha to hear him.

"She hates everyone," Natasha replied with half a smirk to her face. They considered themselves lucky that Amora didn't have an army to back her up – not yet anyway – and while it was still unclear what her game plan was, they had come to the conclusion that she needed to be stopped anyway.

Jumping back up to his feet, Tony glanced to the left side of the street where he witnessed Thor knock The Enchantress away and into a nearby building. The concrete cracked as her back violently connected with it.

"Where is Hawkeye?" Tony asked as he focused back on Natasha. Thor could handle Amora. "And the Captain?"

"They're one block down, trying to get more civilians to safety," Natasha answered.

A high-pitched cry drew their attention and Tony whipped his head toward the sound, witnessing as Amora got blasted by a particularly nasty bolt of lightning. She was going to make Thor pay for that and oh, there was her favorite kind of fire again. Thor took to the sky, barely avoiding getting burned alive, although Tony doubted Thor could actually get burned that easily.

"Oh, my God," Natasha muttered beside him. Her hand shot up, pointing to the top of a building to the south. "Stark, look."

He shouldn't have looked up.

He should have focused on the fight between Thor and Amora because then his stomach wouldn't have dropped to the ground, his throat wouldn't have closed off and he wouldn't feel cold sweat covering every inch of his body. It was an utterly ridiculous reaction and he hated it, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Loki had no attention for Tony as he stood on top of a tall building, emerald green eyes intently focused on the battle between his brother and Amora – the battle that was coming to a close because Tony could tell Amora was seconds away from splitting. His raven hair whipped around his face because of the wind, but otherwise he stood entirely still. Too still. Like a statue.

"I have to talk to him," Tony said before he could stop himself. He didn't know what he was doing, but then again, he never knew what he was doing when it concerned him. As he powered up his propellers, he watched Natasha step closer to him, her arms wrapping tightly around his torso.

"I'm coming with you," She said. She pursed her lips and after one terse look, Tony knew he couldn't change her mind.

"Hold on."

Landing on the roof of the building, Tony spotted the sudden tension in Loki's shoulders, but the God of Mischief didn't turn around to face him just yet. It was strange how after everything, Tony felt like they were enemies again so by all sense and reason, he should try and take him out, arrest him, do something, but he felt frozen in place. He hadn't been this close to Loki in over three months and it did something to him.

It was Natasha who spoke first, a gun firmly in her hands, though she didn't take aim just yet. Everyone knew bullets couldn't harm Loki anyway. "We should have known to find you here," She said.

"Is that so?" Loki's voice sounded dangerously calm and when he finally turned around, his gaze fixed on Natasha, he had a cold smile in place. Emerald green eyes revealed nothing and Tony wasn't used to seeing him like that anymore. Last time Loki had been vulnerable, but right now he seemed to have reverted to his old, deadly self.

Clearing his throat, Tony drew Loki's attention to him and for the first time since he landed on this roof, those lethal green eyes locked onto him. It bothered him that Loki didn't falter while he did. "So you're working with Amora," Tony said and he praised the heavens that his voice didn't shake, "Very predictable. I suppose you don't wish to divulge your plans with us?"

A chuckle came from Loki's lips and for a split second, Tony liked to believe sincere amusement lay in his smile. He was fooling himself, though. "I'm not working with her," Loki said, shrugging, "I just came to see what all the fuss is about."

A heavy thud behind Tony diverted his attention away from the Trickster for a split second. Thor had joined them, Amora having fled the scene. When he looked back at Loki, Tony found nothing but annoyance in Loki's pale, sharp features.

"Are we having a little reunion?" Loki asked tightly.

"Brother, what–" Thor began, but then he stopped abruptly. Blue eyes narrowed, obviously taking in Loki's appearance – not that he looked special in Tony's opinion. He had no idea what was going on, but Tony witnessed as Loki stepped back, green eyes taking in his brother with nothing short of trepidation.

Well that was unexpected.

"This was fun," Loki said, all fake grins and charms falling away from him, "Only it wasn't."

Right before Loki could turn away from them, before he could conjure up enough magic to whisk him away from this place, Tony witnessed with horror and shock in his eyes as Thor grabbed the gun Natasha held and fired it at his brother.

What the hell?

Even though he'd managed to throw up a force-field in time, Loki fell back, and Tony wanted to rush toward him, but a hand on his suited arm held him back. He was this close to shooting off Thor's face when he saw Loki crawl onto his knees and hands, his back turned toward them, and Tony could tell something was wrong. Perhaps the force-field hadn't worked after all? Maybe Loki had been shot by his own brother and he was bleeding out?

But when Loki spoke, his voice sounded cautious, tentative. "However did you know, brother?" He asked like poison dripped from his tongue. He stood, and even though Tony could only see his backside, he could tell Loki's entire body was frozen with tension, with absolute fury.

"I know you better than you think," Thor replied calmly.

A frigid chuckle sounded and then slowly, Loki turned to glance over his shoulder, only Tony's gaze didn't lock with emerald green eyes. Instead, he found a pair of crimson eyes, and Tony felt a shiver run down his spine, he felt coldness spread through his bones. It was like being submerged into a tank with ice cold water because Tony couldn't breathe or move. He couldn't even speak.

He could only stare.

"Well, shit," Natasha muttered.

When Loki turned to face them completely, there was no denying it anymore. He was still very much pregnant.

-/-

Never before had he seen him like this and Tony knew it was rude to stare, but he did it anyway because fuck Loki – figuratively for a change. Crimson red eyes stared right back at him, though unlike Tony's gaze, they revealed nothing. Tony just didn't bother to hide his anger and betrayal, his bewilderment and shock, but Loki's blue skin didn't help Tony's cause. He wanted to be pissed at the Norse god, he wanted to scream at him and curse him for everything he had done, but at the same time he couldn't help feel extremely fascinated.

He wanted to reach out and over the table separating them to feel his skin, to trace the markings that covered him. Would it be cold? Tony distinctly remembered Thor talking about frostbite when discussing the Frost Giants and since Loki was one of them, did that mean he would get burned when touching him?

"How much longer are you going to sit there and stare at me?" Loki asked when the silence between them hit the thirty-minute-mark. They hadn't really spoken since Loki had been brought here, to Stark's kitchen. "Because we're treading awkward-territory."

"I'm going to stare at you for however long I deem necessary," Tony replied with a strangely strangled voice. He watched as Loki nodded once and leaned back in his chair, his blue hands casually folded together on the surface of the table. Tony hated that he appeared so calm, but then again, looks could be deceiving. He knew Loki well enough to realize that while he seemed relaxed, he was probably anxious and nervous.

Or maybe not.

The silence continued for a few more minutes while Tony desperately tried to straighten out his thoughts. He had so many different questions, but they were all drowned by one in particular: Loki had lied to him. It shouldn't be surprising really. What on earth had he expected? Of course Loki would lead him to believe their child had died. Of course he would run!

Tony decided it was time to break the silence when Loki seemed seconds away from standing up and leaving – again. And he could leave. No-one was keeping him here, though Tony suspected Thor might try and wrestle him to the ground. Although … Loki was pregnant. Then again, Thor shot him only an hour ago.

"What does The Enchantress want?" Granted, Tony could have asked a better and more important question, but his anger was preventing him from thinking straight. Sue him. "Why does she do these random attacks?"

Loki narrowed his eyes and for the briefest moment, Tony thought the guy was going to lunge over the table and go for his throat. "You are asking me information about Amora?" Loki's voice sounded cold, detached, and lethal. "No how are you doing, Loki? How is the little kicker inside of you? No when is he due?"

Tony felt his heart flutter within his chest and he wanted to hate the feeling, but he couldn't. "He?" He echoed. "It's a boy?"

Loki eyed him for a moment. "Yes," He answered, "Healthy and strong, loves to kick the hell out of kidneys."

A smile curved the edges of Tony's lips upward, no matter how pissed off he wanted to stay at Loki. Bottled up anger slipped away from, but his confusion remained. It pleased him to hear that their son – he would never get used to that idea, their son – was doing well, but Tony was still left with questions.

Leaning forward, he placed his forearms on the table surface and folded his hands because now didn't seem like the right time to reach for Loki's hands and just hold them. If he did, it might be the last time he ever had hands.

"Why did you leave?" He asked, wishing he could sound a little stronger than that, "Why did you make me believe the child had died?"

Loki's lips turned to a thin line before he spoke, his crimson eyes never wandering away from Tony's face. "I didn't make you believe anything," He said, "I just let you believe it."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" Loki asked with a sudden pained, but loud voice.

Tony remained silent because honestly, he had no answer to Loki's question.

"Look at me, Tony," Loki said much more calmly now. He threw himself back into his chair, his hands falling uselessly in his lap, and for the first time Tony could clearly see the curve of his swollen belly. Six months now he had been carrying the child and Tony did wonder how much longer it would take, but he didn't voice that question. "I'm a monster," Loki continued, true disgust in his voice.

Tony frowned. "Do you think I care about the way you look? You think I care about the color of your skin? The color of your eyes? Those markings?" He stopped when Loki lowered his gaze, though not in a defeated kind of way. More in an I'm-silently-planning-your-murder kind of way, but Tony was an idiot and he never knew when to stop talking. "I didn't fall for you because of your green eyes – although you do have stunning eyes. Still, I didn't fall for your dark hair either, or the way you can bend in bed. Seriously, are all gods that agile and lean?"

That earned him a quick glance, but Loki somehow seemed less lethal.

"I fell for you because you're Loki and you are dangerous and you aren't to be messed with," Tony continued, knowing that he was probably risking his life again right now, "I fell for you because you don't take anyone's shit, mine included, because you are as screwed up as I am, but you're fierce and stubborn and intelligent and–"

"Stop talking if you wish to keep your tongue," Loki snapped.

"Why are you here?"

The question confused Loki, his red eyes narrowing, his body tensing. "What do you mean?"

"I think the question is pretty unambiguous," Tony said. He fearlessly met Loki's gaze which was a neat accomplishment since Loki seemed closer to bursting with rage as seconds ticked by. "There is no-one stopping you, Loki," He said, "No-one is forcing you to be here, but you're still here anyway and I want to know why."

Loki clenched his jaw together, the line of his cheekbones sharpening.

"Well?"

"I'm not working with Amora," Loki said, and hell no!

"I don't care about that bitch," Tony vented. He shifted in his seat. "Now answer my question."

"I don't have to answer anything," Loki replied with his ever so smooth, yet razor-sharp voice. He looked so smug again, so confident, and Tony hated it because he couldn't keep up with the guy once he got started. "I don't have to explain anything. Like you said, Stark, I can just walk out of here."

"Yeah," Tony said, miffed. Still, "But you won't."

That seemed to put Loki in place, but it only caused more questions to flood Tony's mind. "Why didn't you disappear up on that roof? Why didn't you vanish when Thor ruined your illusion? Why, after everything, are you still sitting there?"

"Because all of this is fucked up," Loki bit out, eyes wide and chest heaving as he sucked in a deep breath to steady himself. He looked away from Tony, his hard gaze focusing on the wall to his left. Obviously he was trying to get his emotions under control and obviously he was failing. Tony felt kinda pleased that he had managed to break through Loki's barrier.

"There is a child growing inside of me," Loki said after a long silence. He still didn't look at Tony. His voice sounded tense and he seemed only seconds away from ripping out Tony's throat. "An actual child and I have no idea what to do, what to expect. I don't even know if it's healthy or growing a second head!"

It was an idea Tony didn't want to entertain for too long. Clearing his throat and reached forward, only to stop himself right before he actually took hold of Loki's hand. He dropped his hand, uncaring of how awkward it lay in the center of the table. "There are SHIELD doctors that could run some tests to make sure–"

"If one SHIELD doctor so much as touches me," Loki said lowly, his gaze pinning Tony down, "I will cut off their hands."

But for some unexplainable reason, Tony decided now was the good time to be stubborn. "If one SHIELD doctor so much as pokes you wrong," He said, his voice holding nothing but promise and a warning, "I will cut of their hands for you."

There was a silence, but it wasn't heavy or uncomfortable. It was just there and for the first time Tony didn't think Loki was planning his murder. It was a nice change.

Eventually, Loki nodded once, though he didn't seem entirely satisfied about his decision. "Fine," he said curtly.

TBC ...