Let's pretend it hasn't been 3 weeks since my last update...I'm sorry. I passed all my finals though! :D

And as a reward, I am at the beach for a week. Sans internet. -_- Currently updating from a McDonald's. On the bright side, i'm literally just going to be writing all week! So my updates should be more frequent once I have internets again! :D

I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but i'll have more up soon! (i hope!)


Deft fingers sought out the small bottle of Scotch waiting on the shelf. The man – Stark, Loki kept reminding himself – swiftly poured two small glasses before sliding one across the table. Loki stared curiously at the mysterious, brown liquid.

Stark downed his drink in one swig and returned his glass to the counter only to find Loki eyeing his movements quizzically. After a moment of sheer confusion, Stark slowly reached across the table. Loki flinched away, slightly alarmed, before allowing Stark to cautiously remove the restraint covering his mouth. As it was pulled away, green eyes met brown for an instant before flickering away. Loki bit his lip, muddled by the small, newfound freedom and unsure of what to do with himself.

"Drink." Stark ordered softly, as if reading his mind. Loki drank, wincing faintly at the unexpected burn in his throat. As he did so, Stark stared at him, trying to process the fact that Loki was drinking his liquor just three feet away...and not once reacting the slightest bit how he would expect.

"So!" Stark said loudly, causing Loki to jump. "No memories. That's rather convenient for you." Loki looked at him, unable to find the convenience in his current situation.

"Look," Stark continued. "I don't know what you're playing at, but I don't like it. I know what I said to Fury, but I had no intention of letting S.H.I.E.L.D. kill you and make an enemy of your brother in the process. I trust them as little as possible and I sure as hell do not trust you."

"Now," he continued after a pause. "Another drink?" He tossed back a second drink of his own even as he refilled Loki's glass. Loki watched as his glass was pushed back across the table toward him before looking back up a Stark.

"…Brother?" Loki said, as if trying the word out.

"If that's all you got out of that, memory loss sure hasn't changed your priorities." Stark sighed. "Tall fellow? Long, golden locks billowing in the breeze? Huge god-complex? Or –" Loki stared blankly at him. "No? Well, that can probably only be a good thing." Loki went back to inspecting the glass in front of him, wondering why he was here, sipping horrid liquids, while his brother and memories remained elsewhere.

"Drink that. It's good for you."

Reluctantly, Loki complied, feeling the warmth of the alcohol as it made its way into his abdomen. He had to admit, he did feel better, lighter, as he returned his glass to the table. He looked back toward Stark expectantly.

"What is that?" he surprised himself by saying as he gestured toward the peculiar circle of blue light emanating from Stark's chest. Stark raised an eyebrow; it did not escape him that these were the first words to have come out of the trickster's mouth.

"Fashion statement. You like? Now, I suppose you'll be wanting somewhere to sleep…" Stark turned and walked down a small hallway, leaving behind an utterly confused Loki. Loki shook his head a fraction, as if to clear it after the sudden topic change, and then followed after him.

They ended up in front of a plain door near the end of the hallway. Stark hesitated, remembering the state Pepper had left her room in after their recent break-up. He had never bothered to go near the room, let alone clean it. Slowly, he eased the door open, wincing. It was worse than he remembered. He walked in, trying to ignore the marks of Pepper's anger during their last fight; the overturned coffee table, the dresses he had given her over the years thrown about the room.

"Sorry about the mess…" Stark said.

Loki nodded and moved toward the wall of windows on the far side of the room, the city lights illuminating his face.

"Right. Well, let me know if you, uh, need anything. Just call my name, JARVIS will hear you." He turned toward the door, his hand already on the knob.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Just Tony. Or Stark. I don't like that 'Mr.' business."

"That man before…" Loki said without turning.

"Fury?"

"He said…he said I tried to take control of…Earth." It came out of his mouth like a question.

"Yeah, that happened." Tony said bluntly.

Loki started and turned, giving Stark an incredulous look before turning back to stare, wide-eyed, out at the city. He brought his arm up to rest it on the glass above his head. A construction site sat two blocks away and he couldn't help but wonder if he was the cause of the gaping hole in the building next to it.

"Why –" The click of the shutting door cut off his question and he was left with memories of the angry, fearful faces of the people down in S.H.I.E.L.D. and what appeared to be an endless supply of questions.


Tony walked downstairs, replaying Loki's reactions again and again in his head. They were never what he expected out of Loki, but that surely did not mean he was telling the truth about the memory loss. Stark knew full well that Loki was known as the God of Mischief and was aptly named as such. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if the man really was suffering. The look in his eyes upon learning about his plan to control the planet held such sorrow and confusion. He looked genuinely lost.

"JARVIS," Tony said, walking into his workroom. "He so much as sneezes, let me know."

"Of course, sir." JARVIS' voice said. Without being asked, he threw the security feed from Loki's room up onto one of the screens. Tony sat and scrutinized his current project. "Sir, is that the greatest idea with the current situation?"

"I don't know what he's up to, but I'm not letting his presence affect my ability to work on this. If anything, his being here gives me more cause to finish it."


theyneedtoloveeachothernow.

Reviews are loved.