Chapter Ten

Three years pasted by slowly. Spangles had never came back even thought Fury stated that the captain would check in every now and then. But he refused to come back to the Avengers. Tony seemed disconcerned with this and didn't really care anymore. Once he left HQ to go back to stark Tower, He slowly got worst. Even after Pepper and him got back together. He even got rid of his arc reactor after Pepper finally said it was her or the suit. It wasn't just that though, it was the constant reminder of Loki's betrayal.

After a while of not being Iron Man, he decided to start on a new design of suit. This one having an arc reactor in the suit instead of in his chest. Pepper left once she realized that she would soon be replaced and yet again Stark was left alone. Well besides JARVIS that is.

Tony was still part of the Avengers but there weren't many problems they needed to team up for. Bruce had left to go in hiding, so Stark was now science partnerless. He even stopped with the random girls. Over the time of three years, everything in Tony was smashed into dust. There was nothing left but emptiness.

"Sir, there seems to be a disturbance at the house in Florida."

Stark sighed and went over to the computer to check it out. He played back some footage and froze when he say what he saw. A source of power all too familiar. It was a swirl of green and blue. Those of the arc reactor and the powers of a certain god of mischief.

"JARVIS, contact SHIELD." Tony growled at the AI. "It seems that Loki is back."

"Yes Sir." The AI seemed worried.

Stark walked over to the area his new suit was, deciding now was the best time to try it out. He hopped into the new suit and started it up.

"Sir, the suit is not complete."

"I don't care, I'm going to test it sometime so why not now?" tony growled as he turned on the thrusters. He wobbled a little bit before he became stable in the air. He flew through the tunnel to outside and headed straight to Florida. This was going to take a few hours but maybe he would get to see Loki. For the first time in three long years, emotions swirled around Stark's head. One being hope and another being anger.

About halfway to the destination, a call from Rogers showed up on the screen. Tony frowned and answered it.

"Hey spangles, what's up?" Stark joked around with a smirk on his lips. A sigh was heard on the other side of the line.

"What do you think you're doing? Wait for the rest of us to get there before jumping in." Steve yelled over the line with frustration. The man of iron ignored what he was saying all together.

"No can do Cap, I've been waiting for this opportunity." Stark made the suit go faster so he could get some extra time with his enemy.

"That's an order!" Spangles yelled into the phone but was cut off when the other ended the call. This might not turn out so well in the end. But maybe, just maybe this is what Stark really needed.

Tony landed outside the house that brought back sour memories. He walked in the door, keeping on the armor. There was no sign of anyone, so he headed toward the bedroom. Tony had a feeling that Loki would be there. When he got in the room, Loki was sitting on the bed. The god looked up and they made eye contact.

"Ah, Stark." Loki smirked. "It's great to see you again. Doesn't this bring back memories?" Loki asked with an evil smirk, referring to the time they had together in this exact room. Tony glared at him and felt as if the other was pulling on his heart strings.

"Bad memories." Tony hissed out with a scowl pointed at Loki. The other just snickers and gets up. He walked over to Tony, so they were mere inches apart. Unconsciously, Stark gets his helmet to open and their eyes officially meet for the first time in a long time. Tony was torn between kissing Loki and beating the crap out of him. The god seemed to be waiting for him to decide what to do. Before Tony could think anymore, he pressed his lips to the others. He instantly felt Loki kiss back. The man of iron pulled away after a few seconds.

"Take off the suit." Loki demanded. Tony only shook his head. Like hell he would put himself out on the open, in front of the man he loved but didn't trust. He could easily just say a few words and Tony would be at his will. But not this time. Tony refused to let Loki control his mind, refused to be with Loki. He felt like he was breaking all over again, not feeling like this for over three years. Hell, most of his emotions disappeared while Loki was gone.

"I will not do as you want Loki. I came to take you into custody. Like I should have years ago." Tony growled at the other and pounced. His mask went back down and he slammed his whole body into Loki's. He pushed the other to the ground, glad the god couldn't see his tormented expression. Loki let out a grunt as he hit the ground, having the wind knocked out of him.

"But Tony… I want to be with you. To touch you, to feel you." Loki whispered with a small smile. Tony flinched at this. It was all a trick. Tony kept on repeating this in his mind but it didn't work. He loosened his grip on the god and stood up. He had missed Loki so much, he wanted to be with him too. Tony was fighting an internal battle; Trust Loki and take off the suit, or do what he knew was right and take him to SHIELD. Tony made up his mind and the armor peeled off his body. He lunged at Loki and brought him into a hug that could break bones.

Loki watched in satisfaction as Tony hugged him and he brought up his hands to the man of iron's back. He let out a soft chuckle, sounding deranged and crazy. Something moved in his hand, the light catching it. Before Tony knew what was happening, a knife was plugged in his side. Loki let the other go with a smirk. Tony staggered back with a hurt, betrayed expression. Regret flashing in his mind.

"Loki…" Tony mumbled and went to pull the knife out of his side. Said man would have none of that and his leg swung toward the knife. He hit it with dead accuracy, making it wedge completely into Tony's side with the force of the kick. Tony fell to the ground in pain, coughing up blood. He looked at Loki with so much emotion, mainly hurt, as if Loki had torn out his heart and threw it into a pit of hungry animals. He might as well have. "Why?" Tony managed to get out between the hacking of blood.

"Because you are just a simple pawn in game. You were nothing and you never will be." Loki spat at the other with rage. Tony had no idea what had caused this, he was so confused. He had little time to get his thoughts together as block dots invaded his vision. He placed his hand on the wound in his side and pulled it away to see it covered in blood. Was it really that bad? It must be because he was slowly falling into oblivion. This time it would be no coma, but death.

Figures swarmed into the room as Tony lay motionless on the ground. The light in his eyes slowly fading. For the first time in a while, a blond sat at his side. Tony could see his lips moving but heard nothing. It was spangles. He frowned at the other, wanting to apologize for doing what he did. He tried to talk but his lips wouldn't move. He looked Steve right in the eyes, trying to say he was sorry. The other seemed to understand but still had a worried look on his face. Tony then looked at Loki who was wiggling in some agents grasp. His eyes were swarming with madness, and Tony felt bad for him. His last thoughts before he fell into the eternal darkness was how much, even after all this, he loved Loki.

Steve watched as all the light died from Tony's eyes and he stopped breathing. He yelled Tony's name but there was no response. Steve felt tears well up in his eyes, knowing if he had tried harder to stop Tony from coming alone… This was his entire fault, again. But this time it had cost Tony's life. The super soldier looked at Loki and saw a crazed smirk on his lips.

"You're all going to die. We are all going to die!" He yelled and laughed. Something in his pocket could be seen, it was glowing a blue color. It fell of the pocket and hit the ground. All eyes on it as it did. It wasn't just blue but a hint of green. It intensified and Steve dove out of the room, knowing what was going to happen. A huge burst of power shot from it, knocking everyone in the room to the floor. Most had black on their skin, burn marks. Steve had managed to get only a few scraps and burns since he had escaped just in time. He checked the pulse of the agents. All dead. He walked over to the crazed god and saw that he was breathing. He kneeled by the other.

Loki now had a small smile on his lips. He looked Steve in the eyes and a single tear left his eyes. "I'm sorry." Loki whispered out and then let out his final breath. No one could tell what the god was thinking but s the time pasted, Steve knew what the god was going through. The crave for power and the crave to be loved.

The End

So after much thought, I decided to end it like this. I don't know why but I felt like it just fit. I was crying while I wrote it though. I hope you all enjoyed to story because it ends here. Thanks for reading. Review, follow, favorite.