The door opened with a gentle click and Loki's silhouette appeared in the frame. "Tony?" His voice rang out in the dark tower. He flipped on a lightswitch and dumped his coat and duffel on a chair. "Tony, where are you? I have returned."
He spied Tony's form slumped on the couch in front of the TV, asleep. Loki smiled sweetly and covered him gingerly with a blanket. Leaning over, he kissed him on the forehead. He stood a moment, taking in the sight, a smile still on his face.
Suddenly, rough hands yanked him back, tugging his head up by his hair and shoving a cloth over his mouth and nose. Loki tried to cry out but the sound was muffled by the sweet-smelling cloth. He tried to hold his breath, feeling the cold end of a gun against the nape of his neck.
Tony stirred at the noise, sitting up and throwing off the blanket. He stood, his back to Loki, while the god looked at him helplessly, black spots forming at the edges of his vision.
Tony turned to face him, his eyes burning with hatred. Loki flinched.
The engineer approached him, looking like he was about to break. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He looked away and tried again. "You- you lied to me."
Loki was losing his hearing, and his vision was fading to black. But he thought he heard Stark add, "I should never have fallen in love with the God of Lies."
The god slumped, unconscious.
Tony gazed out the window as they carelessly dragged Loki's limp body into the elevator. A lone tear rolled down his cheek before he wiped it clean away.
Pepper was on one of her visits to Stark Tower to check up on Tony. They had always been necessary to ensure he hadn't choked on his own vomit or slipped, drunk, in the shower. But their necessity increased exponentially after Loki's betrayal. She unlocked the door and stepped inside.
"Tony?" she said quietly. "I've brought you some groceries."
She wandered around the kitchen, simultaneously putting away groceries and tidying up. A dozen or so empty bottles littered the counter, drops of amber liquid at their bottoms. Pepper sighed, putting the alcohol bottles into the recycling.
Once she had finished up in the kitchen, she moved to the bedroom. She steeled herself for what she would find when she opened the door and turned the knob.
The room was pitch black, all the curtains drawn over the floor-to-ceiling windows. Stomping over to the curtains, she yanked them open and sunlight flooded the room. She waded through empty bottles to the bed. A mass of blankets was gathered at the center of the bed, barely breathing. Without any warning, she ripped the blankets off to reveal a curled up Tony, his eyes shielded against the sun.
"Wha- Pep, geddoff. I'm sleeping-"
"Yeah, well you've been 'sleeping' for the past three months. You need to get up and get out of this room."
Tony opened his crusty eyes, his head ringing with a hangover. "Pep, leave me alone. I can take care of myself."
"No, you can't! You have been wallowing in your own self-pity for so long, you can't even feed yourself. You've lost ten pounds. Tony," she cried, "You're killing yourself."
Tony sat up, his hair askew, his clothing rumpled and dirty. He reeked of alcohol. He raised his eyes to meet Pepper's. They were dead, totally and utterly defeated.
Suddenly, she stood straight, crossing her arms. Her voice took a commanding tone when she spoke. "You need to go see him. He's been asking for you since the day of-"
Tony recoiled, leaping to his feet. "No!" he shouted, his eyes wild. "No, I can't. I can't." He shook his head, cradling it in his hands.
"You need to and you will. Be ready in half an hour, I'm coming to pick you up to take you to SHIELD." She turned on her heel and left him, the door slamming behind her.
Tony sat on the edge of the bed and hung his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut.
The black town car glided through traffic to SHIELD, its occupants in uncomfortable silence.
Pepper had somehow made Tony shower and change. Phil Coulson really couldn't figure out how she could control Stark, she seemed the only one that was able to. Well, her and- he stopped himself before he could think the name. Stark seemed like he would shatter apart if it was even thought of in his presence.
They reached the base and were whisked downstairs in the elevator, to the sub-basement. Tony didn't say a word the entire time.
The doors opened with a hiss and Coulson led the way down an empty hallway. At the end there was a solid steel door in what looked like a bombproof wall. Two heavily armed guards stood on either side of it. "You'll need to be sterilized before you enter, just for security reasons." Coulson gestured to a door leading into a spray booth.
Tony stepped inside wordlessly and closed his eyes, a fine spray dusting him over the head. They stepped down to the end of the hall. Coulson entered a code into a keypad on the side of the door and it scanned his retina, the lock popping open with a thundering clunk. He opened the door and Tony stepped forward reluctantly, the door closing behind him.
The cell was fairly dark, and it took a moment for Tony's eyes to adjust. He blinked a few times, focusing on an inky shape on the other side of the cell. He gasped.
Loki was suspended from the ceiling by shackles around his wrists. He was on his knees, his head hung low and his hair in a matted, dirty curtain before his face. He was dressed in only a bloodstained pair of jeans, the ones he was wearing the day he was captured. All along his pale body were red, angry gashes, their edges tinged with a sickly blue.
Tony felt sick looking at him. He stumbled over and kneeled in front of the god, his eyes pricking. He reached out a tentative hand and brushed his filthy hair aside, revealing Loki's grisly face.
The god's eyes were closed, his breath ragged. Tony tilted his chin up to look at him, and Loki's eyes slid open. They were hazy, defeated, their brilliant emerald reduced to a dull green.
"Oh, Loki. Oh, my god. What... what happened? What the hell, did they torture you?"
Loki wheezed, the sound sick and weak. "They were merely... very persistent in their questioning." His voice was thin and rusty. He regarded Tony coldly, his eyes burning with an anger Tony had never seen before.
Tony stood and backed away, shock registering in his face.
Loki laughed bitterly and stood up. "What do you need, Stark? Why have you come now?"
Tony looked confused. "I thought you wanted me here. I thought you'd been asking for me."
"Oh, no, here you are, insisting that you are the center of my universe. I am not dependent on you, Stark."
The blood pumped in Tony's ears. Raw, red anger coursed through his veins. "I thought I could trust you, Loki. My mistake, I guess you never needed me in the first place."
"Trust me? Trust me?! I opened my heart to you, Stark," Loki seethed, his voice gravelly. He lunged forward, the chains clattering but was stopped short by his shackles. "You are just as selfish as you appeared when I first met you." He chuckled darkly, the red rims under his eyes catching the light. "And here you are," his eyes swept Tony's body scathingly, "playing the hero."
Tony felt exposed and raw. He burned white-hot, full of fire and anger, lashing out at Loki. "I am a hero. And you are a villain. We can never be together. You are a bad guy, Loki, I had to do what I did-"
"Had to?! You had to throw aside everything you knew about me for the months we were together and believe what they had told you? Were you really that ready to think I would abandon everything I had built with you in favor of senseless violence?"
"No, I-"
"I am surprised that even you were so selfish." His green eyes were hard and piercing.
Suddenly, Tony's anger dissipated, replaced with crushing guilt. He couldn't breathe. He collapsed to the ground, falling hard on his knees.
Loki watched him fall, a pang of sorrow in his gut. He pushed it aside.
Tony body shook with silent sobs, his breath ragged and uneven, his face in his hands. This was just what he had feared, the reason why he hadn't come to see the god. He was ashamed, afraid that he had been wrong. It was this, not Loki's supposed betrayal, that had kept him away for so long.
"I am sorry, Loki." His voice was thick. "I am so sorry."
When there wasn't a response, he turned his eyes to the god. Green eyes met his brown and he instantly understood what Loki couldn't say. Loki had not been responsible for the attack. He was hurt and betrayed but also could not bring himself to blame Tony.
Tony was at his side in a heartbeat, his fingers feathering over Loki's skin, unsure if he was allowed to touch. Loki gave the smallest nod and Tony embraced him, his salty tears stinging Loki's gashes. Loki inhaled sharply, and the engineer relented.
Tony studied the god's face and Loki did the same. They had both thinned, their hair unkempt, each with bags under his eyes. Two sides of the same suffering.
Tony laughed. "I missed you," he said with a smile.
Loki did not return the gesture. "You realize it will never be the same, Tony."
Tony caressed his face, gently. "I know."
Suddenly, the cell door burst open. A frazzled-looking Coulson charged inside, striding over to Loki and immediately unlocking his electronic shackles with a hiss. Loki rubbed his wrists, looking confused.
"You're free to go," Coulson said.
Tony furrowed his brow. "What? But he-"
"Mr. Stark." Coulson held up his hand. "There has been another attack."
Greetings, amazing, fantastic readers!
Apparently I just love torturing you with cliffys. But you guys already knew I was evil, right? Our two protagonists here have found themselves in a bit of an emotional pickle. The mystery of the other Loki is still, well, mysterious. There were some very good guesses on the identity of Other Loki, or Loki2, and one of you actually got it totally right. As soon as the mystery is revealed (which will hopefully be in the next chapter) I well tell you who it was that got it right. Feel free to keep guessing!
Also! There's a link on my profile to a pic of Loki's tattoo. Check it out!
Thank you to all my wonderful, spectacular readers and especially reviewers! I had a really hard week and you guys made it all better, thanks! Thanks also to the lovely cara-tanaka, she is the reason I can update so quickly. *flails*
Your prize for reviewing this week? That's easy! With the easy price of one review, in three to five business days you will get a bottle of SHIELD-brand chloroform! Now nobody can reject your hot self, 'cuz they'll be unconscious! :D (For those who don't know, chloroform is what was used to knock Loki out. It's a colorless liquid that smells sweet and can put you under real fast. Isn't that fun?!)
My endless devotion is yours!
RagAndBones
P.S. Hopefully we will have some Jotun!Loki in the next few chapters! Blue is the new sexy, people.
P.P.S. This story is being translated into German by the scrumptious aeron4! As soon as I have a link, I'll stick it up here. Also, the beautiful Aruyn is going to be cosplaying as my version of Loki! I cannot express how excited I am for those pictures. *faints* You guys are the greatest!
P.P.P.S. This story has 20,000+ words now, I never thought it would go this far. And 100+ reviews! Woah!
