"By Odin's beard, what gave it away?"

Standing directly in front of Tony was a mischievous looking Bucky Barnes. The only thing that appeared to be wrong with him was his now vibrant green eyes and the slightly annoyed voice that belonged to Loki.

"Well, let's see, maybe it was the fact that you mentioned Iron Man" The noticeably exhausted genius waved his hands in the air to get his point across.

"Explain." Loki's voice ordered as Bucky crossed his arms.

Tony rolled his eyes, aiming for a laid back reaction but all that was readable on his face was insomnia and depression. He couldn't remember for sure but based on the way Loki was acting, the trickster has done this to Tony before. Only Tony was truly unaware that Loki has restarted this fake past over seven times now, erasing the billionaire's mind each and every time. All of the magic flowing into the playboy's brain was definitely taking a toll on the man. Each redo was slowly breaking his spirit, and he wasn't even aware of it.

"Isn't it obvious? I haven't mentioned Iron Man yet. No one here knows what that is. God, why am I explaining this to you?"

Loki chuckled. "Your mortal mind wants to be accepted so badly, you can't stop yourself from showing off how quickly you can figure out a problem. You explained because you know you can."

"Whatever, just work the magic and mess with me some more." Tony waved his hand in a circular motion as if to say move it along.

"You're lucky I enjoy watching you suffer. If I didn't I would have ended your miserable life as soon as I saw you." Loki's voice growled.

"Good to know. Can we speed this up?"

Loki grumbled something that barely reached Tony's ears.

"You seem very annoyed. Is it because I figured it out? Or maybe the other Avengers are giving you a hard time. Is that it? Are they outsmarting you again?" Tony smirked.

With a wave of his hand 'Bucky' turned into Loki as the setting around them disappeared. Tony was back in that cave. Even if he couldn't remember the past times he had been there before.

"Home sweet home?" Tony questioned the silence as he dragged his feet towards what was now his bed, only the genius could guess he wouldn't be getting any sleep once again. While the past sleepless nights were a forgotten memory, the lack of sleep was unforgettable. His eyes were sore, lights gave him headaches, he had become very off balanced, and his muscles felt as weak as the lead in a mechanical pencil. Too much more of this and Tony was sure he'd die. He didn't pray for the others to save him. But just because he didn't believe there was someone to pray to, didn't mean he wasn't internally begging for a savior. Or maybe even relief from this hell.

Like many times before, Tony was right. He did not sleep a blink that night. Or for the following four nights he wouldn't remember.

Present Day•

"That's another Loki Bot down. Where to next Cap?"

Clint's voice mumbled into the ear pieces that each team member was using to hear one another as they scattered through the city. After a whole day of debating, they eventually agreed that Loki has had his fun and it was time to, how Tony would say, 'bring the party to him.'

"Out of all the places for Loki to go, what's the one place that would have the most meaning to him?" Steve asked as he propelled himself over a destroyed support beam that had once belonged to a small coffee shop that the team had gone to on several occasions. Only in Steve's mind, a particular snarky billionaire was still slightly blurry in the memory.

"Avengers Tower? That's where we stopped him last time?" Natasha suggested.

Clint shook his head, as he ran across a small building he was using to hide, even though the others couldn't see him. "No, too obvious. Loki is an ass but he's not stupid."

"Perhaps my brother has opted for a different state. Somewhere where he'd still have access to Anthony's suits of armor." Thor announced as he flew as low as possible through the deserted city.

"Thor's got a point. Loki wouldn't want to stay in one place for too long. Just like we don't." Bruce sat in the back of what was left of a van the team had found for him while they searched for any survivors after Loki's attack. Only now, the world believed it was Tony who had gone villain.

"Fuck.."

"Nat what's wrong?" Steve raised an eyebrow at how distressed the normally neutral assassin.

"Loki is a trickster. He would want to confuse us. Him going somewhere of important makes too much sense. So that leaves somewhere important for someone else. Only Thor is right. He'd have to be somewhere to access Tony's suits."

Bruce's eyes grew wide as Natasha's words sunk in. "Tony.."

"Tony." Natasha confirmed.

"Malibu." Clint joined in. "It makes sense. It's definitely not where I'd expect him to go but if he wants to confuse us and use Stark technology that'd be the best choice."

"Well let's get moving team. If we want to stop Loki we have to move fast." Bruce ordered over the headset.

"Actually, first things first. How do we get him to bring Tony back?" Steve questioned as he turned down an alleyway that resembled a pile of rubble more than anything.

"We can figure that out on the way. We'll just have to hope that whatever Tony is going though, he can handle for a while longer." even Natasha sounded unsure of her words.

Steve decided not to argue and delay the plan any further for now. With a heavy sigh he reluctantly agreed. "Alright. Let's get going."

●"The Cave"●

Tony let out a sigh from exhaustion as Steve's eyes went green for, unknowingly, the thirteenth time.

"Please just stop."

"What's wrong?"

"Don't." Tony snapped.

Steve chuckled, Loki's obnoxious laugh filling the air instead of the super soldier's. "It seems that you're running out of patience and one liners."

"Mhm." Tony waved a hand over his shoulder as he walked towards a chair off to the side. With obvious annoyance, he collapsed into it, eyes falling shut as soon as he was somewhat comfortable.

Loki hummed at the sight, the illusion of Steve disappearing as he cautiously walked towards the genius.

"You've become boring. Stop it. I command you." Loki nudged a half asleep Tony as he spoke with slight confusion in his voice.

"Or what? You'll kill me?"

"Well I guess I could. But, that's really no fun." Loki smirked as he crossed his arms.

At that moment, Tony had an idea. Loki liked having fun. He enjoyed playing games and tricks. So what better way to stop him than by tricking the tricksters himself.

"Fun. I know what could be fun." Tony smirked for the first time in a long time. At least he assumed it was a long time. At his words Loki perked up like a small dog.

"Tell me. Now."

"Well, you want to mess with me so I can only assume you'd like to mess with the others. Maybe, Thor perhaps?"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"Let me go and bring them to you. I promise not to bother you if you don't bother me once you have them captured." the idea of betraying the team hurt Tony deep down. He knew what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you care about so he refused to do it to anyone now. Only in this situation, he needed Loki to let him think he was that selfish asshole everyone assumed he was. Of course he was going to warn them if Loki let him go. The trick was getting him to let him leave in the first place.

Loki stared Tony in the eyes, refusing to break his gaze. He only moved after what felt an eternal moment, to grab Tony by the throat, continuing the eye contact.

"You're different from when we first met. I can see it in your eyes. You expect me to believe you could turn your friends over without a second glance, but you forget I've seen what's in your head. You care. And you lie. Besides how can I let you leave here when we aren't really here?" without another word Loki backed away and slowly disappeared into the air around them, leaving Tony in a confused, out of breath state.

After the genius caught his breath, already feeling a bruise on his neck forming, he looked around the cave with panic in his eyes. He could feel an anxiety attack creeping up on him.

"If we aren't in this cave, where are we?"

Present Day●

The ride to Malibu was silent and excruciatingly slow. It was risky but they technically had to steal a Quinjet from the remains of Stark Tower. Loki might be able to receive a warning that they were on their way but Clint suggested going stealth mode. The risk remained high seeing that Loki could track them with magic most likely. The team wasn't sure what they'd find there. Hell they weren't even sure Tony actually rebuilt the place after the attack. The only reassurance was Natasha who swore something was out there. Even if Tony had refused to go back to that place.

Sadly they couldn't use JARVIS for help. If Loki was using the Iron Man technology that meant the AI was compromised in some form and because it was magic, Bruce couldn't exactly figure out how to stop it.

The landing wasn't close to their target at all. Clint and Natasha figured that while the rest of the team readied up, the two should do some recon and scout ahead. Once the assassins were gone, Steve removed his Captain America helmet and sighed.

"Bruce, what if he's not there?"

"Loki or…?"

"You know who I'm asking about."

Bruce rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Well then, I guess we keep looking."

"For Loki or…?"

Bruce chuckled. "You know who I'm talking about."

At that moment, a loud alarm went off inside the Quinjet. Red lights flashed on all screens as the aircraft began to descend.

"Banner, what is happening?" Clint questioned all he tried to regain control of the falling piece of metal that was suppose to keep them safe.

"It must be my brother. He would have added a protective wall around his hiding spot. It must be impossible to see with the naked eye. His magic has definitely improved." Thor boomed from his seat in the back of the Quinjet.

"Clint, now would be a good time to get back to a safer altitude." Natasha growled as she held herself steady against the walls.

"I'm working on it. We need a way to soften the landing if I can't get this bird in the air again." Clint kept his eyes straight forward. He didn't seem to be panicked either which was probably why he was behind the wheel.

No one noticed but Loki's magic must have weakened for a second because green took over Steve's vision like before as he began to experience another memory.

"Actually he's the boss. I just pay for everything, design everything, make everyone look cooler."

Tony stood up from the seat in the Quinjet and continued past Steve, giving the blonde a quick glance as if he wanted to say something else. Instead the genius smiled and sped walked away leaving Steve to question what that was about.

The memory was cut short as someone's screaming shook Steve out of his thoughts.

"Everyone hold on!" Natasha yelled as she closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Everything went dark as they crashed into the ground, the sight causing an amused grin to creep on a certain God's mischievous face. Loki then walked towards a small room where Tony was kept floating in the air by green magic, trapped in a deep sleep and completely unaware that his family was in trouble and quite possibly never coming to his rescue.