Bruce raises an eyebrow at him, but comes down with him to the workshop. Tony notices that he doesn't let go of the duffel he's clutching and wonders if it has something to do with their recently acquired houseguest with a fondness for leather.

"So what did you want to show me?" Bruce asks finally when they reach the workshop.

Tony shifts uneasily and darts over to the area that still has his attempted research on Amora the Enchantress spread out in a wall, Bruce trailing behind him. He clears the pages with a wave of his hand and starts pulling up Erik Selvig's Tesseract files frantically.

"Look at this," Tony says, enlarging the tiny note in the margins with his fingers.

"God," Bruce whispers, leaning forward to stare at the note. Blue light reflects softly off his face and glints on the rims of his glasses.

"I was reviewing SHIELD's files and looking at the Tesseract weapon logs. I found out that the amount of energy that their scientists were able to extract is nowhere near what would be needed to destroy something as big as Stark Tower," Tony says lowly. "Amora, if it really was her, managed to tap into previously untouched energy stored within it."

"Which means that—" Bruce turns to him, his face draining. "She could do this. Obliterate the solar system, or whatever Selvig called it. And even though she's dead, the whole thing with the parasite—"

"Means that whoever started all of this could still come back and finish it," Tony concludes. "But we still don't know what the hell they're doing. We don't know motivations, we don't know if or when they're going to do anything, hell, we don't even know who they are."

"There isn't much to go off of, Tony," Bruce murmurs, turning back to Selvig's notes. "Can you reach Selvig so we can talk to him personally?"

"I tried to call him, but he didn't answer. I asked Jane and apparently he vanished after New York. She thinks he's probably in Alaska or Canada or something." Tony sighs and pulls up some of the other SHIELD Tesseract files. "We're on our own."

"The problem with this enemy," Bruce says, "Is that we caught on too late. There was an obvious pattern going on with how Stark Tower and Project Rebirth were both destroyed and we should have realized." He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and turns back one of Selvig's reports, something Tony's gone over now multiple times. He looks exhausted. Probably hasn't slept since the Culver bombing. "But now, the whole team has already been targeted, except for Thor. If whoever was controlling Amora is really planning on destroying Earth, we'll be too late to stop them."

Tony remembers the forgotten list of locations and thinks, too little, too late.

"I suspected a pattern," Tony says despondently to the page in front of him. "I had Jarvis compile a list of locations I was going to keep an eye on but the whole thing with Loki happened and I got distracted." Tony shakes his head bitterly, a grimace twisting his features.

"It's not your fault," Bruce says fiercely, training hazel eyes on Tony. "You couldn't have done anything."

"Yeah," Tony says briskly, but there's still a heavy rock of guilt in his stomach. "But you're right. We have no idea how to predict anything that's going to happen next."

"I'm going to go back to the lab, see if I can get anything off of the figurine I found at Culver," Bruce says carefully. "Mind sending me these so I can have a look at them later?"

"Sure," Tony says, and touches a few commands to send all of the Tesseract files to Bruce's server in his lab. "Tell me if you need any other SHIELD info," he says impishly, and wiggles his fingers suggestively to cover up the whirling anger he still has directed at himself. Why didn't he check the locations?

"I will," Bruce says with a small smile. "Oh, and Tony—"

"Mm?" Tony says from the holographs. He looks up to see Bruce standing hesitantly, his grey duffel slung across his shoulder and bunching up his light blue button up shirt.

"Make sure you tell Steve about this," Bruce says seriously. "It… it could change a lot of things."

Tony stares at him for a fraction of a second before nodding. "I will," he says, echoing Bruce's words.

Bruce gives a small, awkward wave and leaves in silence.

Tony stares at the empty workshop and feels a little empty himself. Dummy whirrs up next to him, offering him an orange-ish smoothie with a chirp. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts and takes the drink. Slurping his smoothie, which he fervently hopes doesn't have motor oil in it, he goes to find Steve.

Unsurprisingly, Tony finds him in his room, a world map taped hastily to the wall. Red pins mark locations—Manhattan, Brooklyn, Virginia, and Budapest. The bombing locations. This is how Steve solves problems at HQ; he would rather take the time to have a paper copy than have Jarvis create a holograph screen in seconds.

Steve is sitting on the floor, staring up at the map with a concentrated look on his face. His brown leather jacket is thrown haphazardly on a chair nearby and the sleeves of his plaid shirt are rolled up to the elbow, exposing a ticking watch on his left wrist. The handgun he brought to the bar is resting unassumingly next to him.

"Hey, Cap."

Steve turns around so fast Tony is surprised he doesn't crack his neck.

"Oh, Tony," he says, and relaxes. "What's going on?"

Tony furrows his brows and takes a sip of his smoothie, stalling for time. "I was going over Selvig's notes on the Tesseract and I found something." Tony says hesitantly, and proceeds to re-explain the situation with the Tesseract and what it's capable of. When he's finished, Steve's face is dark.

"Well," he says, and runs a hand through his hair apprehensively.

"Well what?" Tony says, because he's never been great at being patient. "What are you planning on doing?"

"About the Tesseract? I don't know yet," Steve says, and stands up, tucking the gun into the back of his pants. "I was actually thinking of talking to Loki."

"Loki?" Tony asks incredulously. "Why? He wasn't very polite this morning. Actually, I was thinking that more in the terms of 'he was a pompous, theatrical ass.'"

"True, but he knows more about this stuff than any of us," Steve points out. "Besides, I'm not getting anywhere with that map."

"Fine," Tony grumbles, and drains the rest of his smoothie before tossing the disposable cup in a convenient garbage can as they head out the door. "But I'm coming with you. Can't have America's golden boy getting corrupted by Loki."

Steve rolls his eyes, but Tony can tell he's grateful.

"Jarvis, can you direct us to Loki?" Tony says.

"Unfortunately, sir, Thor and Loki are no longer on the premises. I believe they are in Central Park," Jarvis says, sounding slightly alarmed.

"What?" Tony yelps. "How did they get out?"

"You had not locked down Thor's access, sir. When they attempted to leave headquarters, I could not hold them back without overriding your direct orders."

"Shit," Tony mutters. Is everything meant to go wrong today?

Steve shoots him a look. "Where are they Central Park, Jarvis?" To Tony, he says, "We have to track them down, you know."

"Approximately at the northernmost tip of the reservoir," Jarvis says quietly.

"Yes, I know," Tony retorts to Steve. "I also know that I don't want SHIELD to publish that we've been harboring an international criminal when Loki blows Manhattan sky-high!"

"Thor's with him," Steve reminds him as they sprint down toward the garage. He's not even short of breath, the bastard. "That's gotta count for something."

"It won't be enough if Loki really goes all out." Or if he turns traitor again, Tony doesn't add.

Steve grimaces. "You're probably right."

Tony reluctantly concedes that a SHIELD car is probably the best option, because it's better defended and practically comes with a built in arsenal in the trunk. They get into the car, the route already programed into the GPS console by Jarvis.

He drives recklessly through the streets of Manhattan, skidding to a halt on a street in Central Park. He thanks whatever god is watching over him that he finds a parking spot in the first place. Steve and he exit the car as fast as they can, slamming the matte black doors behind them. The sound is lost in the millions of other noises of the city as they leave the car at the curb and run into the park.

"Jarvis, come on, give me something," Tony talks into the phone that he filched from Steve. "Where are they?"

"About 300 feet on your two o'clock, sir," Jarvis' voice sounds tinny from the phone and Tony has to hold it close to his ear to hear it.

"300 feet that way," Tony relays to Steve, pointing at the correct angle. Steve nods and starts running ahead of him. "Super-soldiers," Tony mutters, and follows.

They burst into a small clearing of trees, brown branches dotted with fiery leaves underneath the grey sky.

Thor and Loki look surprisingly innocent in the clearing. Innocent, as in, not committing active murder, at least. Loki is kneeling on the hard packed dirt, inspecting something at his feet while Thor stands impatiently above him. His arms are folded and he looks strangely bare with Mjolnir absent from his hip.

Loki's hands are still shackled together, but the length of chain in between his wrists has been somehow expanded to allow him more reach as he pokes carefully at the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tony all but yells when he runs in.

Thor turns, startled, his hand flying toward his side, but Loki simply ignores him.

Steve claps a hand over Tony's mouth and he splutters. He tries to say, "Get off me," but it comes out as muffled nonsense. He glares, and rips Steve's wrist away with his free hand.

"What Tony means to say," Steve says, looking pointedly at him, "Is that we ask you, Loki, to refrain from being seen by civilians in the company of a current Avenger."

"My apologies, Steve," Thor says, looking worried. "But—"

"Quiet," Loki hisses. He's closed his eyes and has his fingers pressed into the dirt, like he's feeling for vibrations.

"Sorry, but you're going to have to come back to HQ," Tony says firmly. He takes a step forward.

"I said quiet," Loki snarls, and opens his eyes to glare at Tony. The natural green of his irises has been infused with a bluish glow, and Tony is reminded, suddenly, of the Chitauri scepter and its capabilities.

Thor steps in front of him, standing in between the mischief god and Tony.

"I am sorry, but you cannot come any closer," Thor says regretfully. The air is starting to spark warningly and Tony leans away slightly. "My brother needs a few moments without interference."

"I want to know what he's doing," Tony growls, craning his head to try and see over Thor's massive shoulder. It's a useless attempt, because Thor is built like a mountain with the height to match.

"Performing a ritual. Something has happened."

Steve's hand tugs on his shoulder. "Come on, Tony, just wait." Quietly in Tony's ear, he murmurs, "Don't make an enemy of Thor when we just got him back. You don't have the suit."

Tony makes a wordless sound of frustration and steps out from under Steve's hand. However good of terms he and Steve have gotten on, Steve still has a clear line of separation between Tony and the suit. However, he reluctantly concludes that armed with Steve's phone and nothing else, he would probably lose to a fight with Thor.

Probably. Who is he kidding? He'd get his ass whooped.

Loki hasn't moved from where he's looking as though he's carved from marble, and with his lashes curving darkly against his cheeks Tony has to remind himself that he can't trust him at all. He doesn't know enough about whatever Asgardian ritual Loki is performing and he has to keep in mind that it may be a trap. Or an escape route. Just because Thor trusts him doesn't mean that—

Loki stands up, abruptly, and stares keenly at Tony for a second. The blue glow has vanished and his eyes are again piercing jade. Tony feels trapped in their gaze, held helplessly, and he can't look away.

Loki breaks eye contact to face Steve and Thor.

"Thanos has arrived on Midgard," Loki says, and there's an edge of something like desperation tinting his words.

"Thanos?" Tony says. He suddenly feels small and uncertain when he remembers the cold stone throne and the way the man in it spoke with a voice like destruction. Thanos is coming for him personally. If a name can strike that much fear into Loki, Tony would do well to be wary.

Loki's gaze snaps back to Tony. "Yes. I can feel his presence."

"Wait a second." That's Steve, looking confused. "Thanos… that was the 'power player' you mentioned, right? Who might have the Tesseract?"

"Yeah," Tony says, glancing at Loki.

The god in question looks a little startled. "You told them about him."

"There wasn't much to tell. I don't know who he is, or what he is, or anything about him," Tony says hotly.

At the same time, Steve says warily, "What?"

Loki continues as though Steve hadn't spoken at all. "You do. You have met him."

Tony can tell that there's a confused expression etched onto his face. "Nope, I'm pretty sure I haven't. I'd remember it."

Now it's Loki's turn to look confused. "I thought—"

Steve chooses that moment to butt his pomaded head in. "Somebody please explain what's going on with this Thanos person." He fixes his blue eyes on Tony. "I know you said he was powerful and might have the Tesseract, but if I'm remembering right even Thor didn't know who he was," Steve says.

"Aye," Thor says uncertainly. He sounds as though he's confused by what the conversation is even about. Well, he's not the only one. "They asked me if I had heard of them," Thor says to Loki. "I told them I had not."

"You would not have met him," Loki says blankly. "It was only during my time in the abyss that I encountered his foul presence." His face betrays nothing, but his voice falters on the word "abyss." Tony doesn't like the sound of that.

Thor's face, on the other hand, looks pained and angry. He looks away, fixing his gaze on the frosty ground, and Tony wonders at the story there.

"Who is he?" Steve asks. Looking at him, Tony can tell that he's picked up on the sensitive topic as well.

"He is pure evil," Loki murmurs, his gaze dark. He starts walking away briskly, the icy dirt crunching beneath his boots. Tony reaches out a hand and grabs his shoulder.

"Where are you going? You can't leave us hanging like—"

In an instant, Loki has him caught in a chokehold, the thick length of chain binding his wrists together pressing up against Tony's neck. The words die in his throat.

Steve starts forward, looking murderous, while electricity crackles in the air. Loki steps back, away from Tony, the chain dangling unassumingly from his shackled wrists.

"Do not. Touch. Me. Again," Loki growls from gritted teeth.

Tony presses his fingers to his bruised neck and stares at Loki in shock as he tries to breathe like a normal person.

Steve stands next to him, a solid wall of anger directed at Loki.

"I want to know," Tony says once he's breathing normally, "Who Thanos is."

"Do you, Anthony?" Loki asks quietly, and he sounds like he's going to snap soon. "Do you really? Would you like to know which tools he uses when torturing? His varied methods of execution? The fact that he was one of the masterminds behind the invasion I led into New York last year? How about that he believes that he can court Death, and causes genocide to appease her?" Loki is breathing hard now, two bright spots of color on his sharp cheekbones.

Tony is stunned into silence, trying to process all of the information Loki just spat out at him. He can tell by the astonished and staggered looks on Steve's and Thor's faces that they didn't know any of this either.

Loki stares at him, with eyes that are green and accusing. "I didn't think so," he whispers.

With that, Loki leaves, tendrils of hair blowing into his face with the blustery autumn wind. The three of them are too startled to do anything but stare at his retreating figure for a moment before chasing after him.

Shit. Tony pushed him too far, much too far, uncovering a whole mess of wounds. Now they might lose him if he decides to magic himself away, and it'll all be his fault. He bursts out of the bordering of trees and—

Finds Loki sitting in the horrible, SHIELD-branded car.

For a second time in the past couple of minutes, Tony finds himself dumbfounded. He doesn't know why Loki is staying, and it's nagging at him like an itch he can't scratch.

Steve looks just as bemused as he is, mouth gaping open until he shuts it with a snap, while Thor simply gives Loki a considering look and walks around the car to get in on the other side.

"Why are you still here?" Tony asks dazedly, and maybe that's not the best question—shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that—but he doesn't know what to make of this.

Loki raises an eyebrow, looking unconcerned, but the flush hasn't disappeared from his cheeks. "I can't teleport in these blasted cuffs," he says, irritated, as if he can't tell why Tony is asking. "And the only other mode of transportation to get back to your 'headquarters' is the method I came here in, which I do not want to experience again." He rolls the window up with an annoyed flick of his fingers. So the cuffs suppress teleportation but no other magic. Interesting.

"How did he get here again?" Tony hisses to Steve.

"I think Thor flew them," Steve says blankly. His face has morphed from confused to suspicious.

Tony barks a laugh and moves to the drivers' door. "I'd like to see that," he says, smirking as he slides in and slams the door behind him.

Steve doesn't respond, but there's a quirk of a smile lurking in the corners of his mouth.

It's only when Tony looks back at the car's occupants that he realizes it's the same group that drove away from the bar with him after Amora. Oh, no. The most uncomfortable car ride that he never wanted to experience again is happening for a second time right now.

He decides that yes, the universe hates him.