Chapter 21: Liar

"You'll need to take it easy for a while, Tony." Bruce said as he'd finished examining the engineer's three badly bruised, but thankfully not broken ribs in the infirmary of the Washington SHIELD base. Tony leaned back in the chair he was sitting in with a grimace. He glanced over to Loki who was still unconscious in a bed near him. Thor had needed to carry him back. Loki was a hell of a lot heavier than he looked.

Bruce had come up with some kind of long-winded dense tissue theory as an explanation. The only thing Tony got out of it was that it had something to do with his super human strength and muscle mass. He probably would've known exactly what Bruce was talking about if his mind hadn't been elsewhere.

"Yeah, no shit." Tony replied after a while. "I'm half hoping Amora takes a permanent trip to Narnia or something because I never want to fight that guy again. He makes Thor and the other guy look like puppies."

"I agree. Loki wasn't exaggerating about his strength." Bruce said and followed Tony's glance to the unconscious demigod. "Something smells kind of funky here, though."

"So you noticed too?" Tony commented. "Tell Fury this and I'll kill you, but I don't think Loki wanted to capture her. I mean, I have no idea how his mind works, honestly. But something's really been distracting him lately. He seems depressed."

"And you didn't ask him what's bothering him?" Bruce said incredulously.

"Well, no. I didn't." Tony admitted sheepishly.

"Tony, you suck at relationships." Bruce groaned. "Seriously."

"So I've been told. But the odds of getting struck by lightning are probably better than Loki actually telling me until he decides he wants to." The inventor said with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Considering how much time we spend with the god of thunder, I'd say the odds are pretty good." Bruce retorted with a hint of smirk.

"Touché."

"You also have flown around in enough thunderstorms to -"

"I get it Bruce. I'll try asking when he wakes up." Tony snapped.

Bruce shook his head and left Tony alone with the unconscious god. True to his word, Loki's injuries were already mostly healed by the time they got back to the base. Bruce had opted to just leave him alone, other than cleaning the nastier open wounds and trying to make him as comfortable as possible while his magic did its work.

As if he knew Tony was watching him, Loki's eyelids fluttered as he slowly came awake. He blinked a few times and looked up at the plain white ceiling. Carefully he pressed his hand against the deep wound in his left side that someone had bandaged tightly. He winced and let his hand fall to the bed. That is not right. It should have healed.

"Hey, look at this. Sleeping beauty is finally awake." Loki turned his head to see Stark sitting in a chair next to him. He stayed with me?

"Bambi? How are you feeling?" Tony pressed. Loki let out an irritated sigh and closed his eyes.

"I have been better. But also much worse." Loki replied after a time. "Where are we?"

"The infirmary in Washington's SHIELD base. Where we landed before we went after Amora." Tony explained. "Speaking of which..."

"She caught me by surprise."

"You let her escape." Tony said at exactly the same time.

Loki gave Tony his best menacing glare but faltered when his position put too much pressure on his wound. He immediately relaxed back into the pillows. Why did she do this to me?

"This wound needs to be properly treated." Loki said in what he knew was a futile attempt to change the subject. "For some reason it is not healing on its own."

"Fine, I'll get Bruce. But first tell me why you let her escape." Tony demanded.

"I did no such thing." The trickster snapped.

"Look, you're the god of lies. I get that. But I'm not blind or completely oblivious. I know something's been bothering you lately. I just didn't ask because, well, I knew you wouldn't tell me. So now I'm asking. And I couldn't care less if you talk Fury into believing he has pink tentacles for hair, but please at least tell me the truth. Is that too much to ask?" Tony ranted, trying not to make it sound like he was angry with him. He wasn't really. He was worried. Tony Stark, worried about the well-being of another person.

The Capsicle would be beside himself.

"I Let Amora go because her magic is the only way anything can ever come of this bond we share other than sex. She is no less treacherous than I am, but trusting her is the only way. She owes me a debt at least – that should count for something." Loki answered after a long, uncomfortable pause.

"Ok. So, how does she determine anything to do with our relationship?" Tony asked, confused. All this space voodoo nonsense was starting to drive him up a wall.

"You are a mortal. I am not. Allowing myself to become too attached to you would be masochistic at best." Loki explained.

Ouch.

"I have thought of that... a bit. But you could have asked me about this. I mean, what if I don't want to be immortal? And wait, she has the power to do that?" Tony asked. He wasn't particularly hurt by the lack of trust, he knew better by now. He knew what it really meant was that Loki was afraid of doing something that would push him away.

"Not her specifically, but a spell she knows. Your desire is a non-issue. I could choose to be mortal." Loki explained, obviously with some effort to keep his composure, let alone say the words at all.

"You would do that?"

"Right now, at this moment in time – no. It would sooner rain in Jotenheim. But if it a later date, and I was absolutely certain of my feelings for you with no other options... Yes, I would do that." The god, somewhat miserably. "Though, I would prefer to retain my immortality. I do not relish the idea of becoming mortal. That would be the same thing as someone telling you that you have mere days left to live."

"Well, if I had mere days left to live... Actually, you can ask Fury or Pepper about that if you want a laugh. I'm surprised I didn't start World War III while I was dicking around trying to make the best of it." Tony said lightheartedly. Loki didn't show the slightest hint of a smile and seemed for all the world to be pointedly ignoring him. "In any case, neither one of us is ready to make a decision or commitment like that now. We'll handle that when we get there."

If we get there.

"I do not desire to discuss this any further. Please get a healer, my magic will not heal this wound." Loki demanded tiredly.

Tony left to get Bruce, he knew trying to push Loki was never a good idea. At least now he had some kind of idea what was going on in his mind. But, at the same time, it only raised more questions.

Was he willing to make that kind of a commitment at all? Did he even know how to be committed? Well, that last one was a definite no. The only person he'd ever actually thought he'd fallen in love with was Pepper.

Love.

Tony Stark didn't do love. He did womanizing and awesome sex.

But this was entirely different.

Pepper and Loki had something in common where Tony's emotions were concerned, though, and he'd been trying not to think about it for some time.

Seeing Loki smile did things to him that just threw him for a loop. And the mindless, consuming fear that Loki might have been killed somehow in the explosion at the mansion had overwhelmed him. Tony was impulsive as fuck; that he knew. But he wasn't suicidal. So what was it that made him ready to bolt inside a burning building without his armored suit or a half a second's hesitation? Tony had no idea. All he knew was that if Loki hadn't appeared behind him, he would have and wouldn't have stopped until he either got himself killed or found Loki.

It was the same when he'd tried to call Pepper during the invasion. When she didn't answer her phone, he assumed the worst and all sense of reason utterly left him. He didn't care if he died throwing that stupid nuke into the portal. If she was still alive, it was the only way to protect her. If she wasn't... Could he even live without her? He hadn't thought of New York or anyone else at that moment – only Pepper.

Tony shook his head and wandered out into the cafeteria. Bruce was there chatting with Steve and Thor. Apparently Cap was in Washington on SHIELD business. Silently, Tony sat down in a chair beside Steve and waited for them to notice him. The thought crossed his mind of how very un-Tony Stark like it was. He didn't waltz in like he owned the place and make himself the center of attention. It felt like he was hiding. Hiding from what, though?

"You're needed in the infirmary, Big Guy." Tony finally said, when they finally noticed him. Bruce raised an eyebrow but left immediately. Tony made to follow, but Steve grabbed his sleeve and shoved him back into his chair as effortlessly as Loki might have. Tony glowered at him, but didn't say anything - even if Captain America wasn't all that impressive looking without his star spangled spandex. He looked just like anyone else wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a tan plaid button-down.

"What's up Capsicle? It's been a while." Tony said. Not since New York.

It had been a while. They hadn't spoken since the invasion. That was probably for the best. Steve had no time for a billionaire playboy with no sense of responsibility, and Tony didn't feel like hanging out with the man that had made him feel inferior before he even knew what 'inferior' meant. If nothing else, Tony knew how Loki felt where Thor was concerned – and he was probably the only person on the entire SHIELD base that did.

"I wanted to ask you about Loki." He said intently.

Oh great, Captain Chastity doesn't know. Please kill me.

"What about him? He just got his ass kicked by a girl so he's in a pretty shitty mood. I wouldn't go in there if you don't want to be chocked to death with your own spinal cord or something. He comes up with some pretty creative and most likely physically impossible death threats." Tony chattered. That probably should have been a warning sign right there if either Steve or the thunderer knew him well enough. Sure, Tony never shut up, but he didn't ramble like that unless he was nervous. He wondered if it would be considered awkward to chop his foot off and permanently lodge it in his mouth.

"Aye, my brother is very creative. But he also rarely puts forth that much effort in killing someone. Contrary to what he would have you think, Loki takes no pleasure in death." Thor commented, smiling.

"I don't know about that, and it isn't any of my business. But Stark... You're sleeping with him? Are you out of your mind?" Steve inquired with an angry tone.

"And that is your business?" Tony quipped sarcastically, and noticed he'd been playing with a ketchup packet the entire time. Like a child caught with something it shouldn't have, he dropped it and hid hands under the table. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the super soldier.

"Not really, but you aren't acting like yourself." Steve pressed.

"I was until a minute ago so Jesus Christ, will you fuck off already?" The engineer retorted bitterly.

"What happened then?"

"Nothing. Drop it."

"No. I will not drop it. What is your problem with me, Tony? Why can we not just have a civil conversation without it ending with a fight?" Steve asked in exasperation. Tony thought about it for a moment, and decided maybe he needed to get some of his own baggage off his chest. That and, well, fuck Steve's judgmental bullshit.

"Where do you want me to start? Your good Christian morals, or with the fact that I was never good enough for my own father because he cared more about some dead guy frozen in the ice somewhere than his own son? I could never be you! I grew up in your shadow, and nothing I did ever lived up to the expectations, no matter how hard I tried. At least Loki didn't have to fight for his family's attention with a fucking ghost." Tony half shouted, and then did get up and stalk back in the direction of the infirmary. Steve didn't stop him, he just stood there with his mouth hanging open in shock.

Steve knew what Tony was referencing about Loki's family. Thor had told them the whole story a few times. He'd never really understood it, nor did he ever imagine himself being in any way being compared to Thor and Loki's relationship. After all, what reason would there be?

"Was Howard really that obsessed with me?" He asked rhetorically. Thor shrugged and took a sip of his soda. He had become quite fond of the fizzy Midgardian beverage.

"I do not know of this Howard of which you speak." The thunderer commented. Steve just shook his head and found his way to the infirmary. He was pretty sure that was where Tony had gone. It hadn't been his intention to make him angry – he was worried about him.

"Why won't it heal?" Bruce asked Loki as he gently examined the sizable gash in his left side. Loki didn't dislike Bruce anymore, but he was hardly comfortable with this situation. Not that it was Bruce's fault. He wouldn't trust any Midgardian healer as far as he could throw them. Well, maybe that wasn't the best analogy – he could throw a Midgardian quite far with his strength.

"There is magic capable of preventing regenerative abilities. I would assume Amora did not want me to follow her. Given some time for this to heal, I could easily be on her trail by now. However, like this there is little I can do to find her. It will heal in time, but not as quickly as it normally would." And it will leave a gruesome scar that no amount of shapeshifting or illusions will hide. He added to himself mentally with a touch of anger and disgust.

There was an elven healer in Alfheim he'd have to go see to fix that.

How inconvenient.

"If that's the case. I'll just have to fix you the best I can, then." Bruce said nonchalantly. "I sincerely doubt anything here is going to be strong enough to sedate you so... Bear with me. It's going to hurt."

Nothing you can do to me will be half as painful as what I endured at the hands of the Chitauri, he wanted to say.

"I have a high tolerance pain." Was what Loki actually said as he rolled onto his good side to make it easier for Bruce to work.