Chapter 21 – Saved

The impact didn't seem as bad as he thought it would be. Must be because I died suddenly. In fact it seemed almost as if the pavement was... soft. Well, he could still feel his body and it was still like a kitten – Oh god, am I stuck in the afterlife as a kitten?! – and he was still breathing... Wait, breathing?

He opened one eye slightly to find out that he wasn't on the concrete or in the afterlife or even hurt in any way. He was very much alive and the adrenaline was still coursing through his veins.

He couldn't control his body; tears were threatening to spill from his eyes and his body was shaking like crazy. In the process of thanking every god – apart from Loki considering that god just threw him out of a window – for saving him, he managed to blink away a few of the tears and find out what he had fallen on because it most definitely wasn't concrete.

Or a better description would be who had caught him.

"Loki?!"

Thanks to his shivering, he didn't notice that the god was running at a breakneck speed down the streets of New York, swerving between pedestrians with ease, but panting a lot more than a god should be.

Loki had saved him. Loki had kept his word and given Tony even more reason to trust him.

This was too much emotion for the billionaire to handle within less than a minute; one second he's falling and the next he's just been saved by his 'murderer' - why could he never have a normal day?

He couldn't think of anything else to be said and spent the remainder of the journey – he figured out they were heading towards the apartment – getting rid of any tears that were in his eyes because he did not want anyone to see him crying.

~x~

The door was shoved open by the trickster's elbow and by the time it had swung shut again both of them were on the sofa, Loki still holding the kitten close to his chest. Tony still had his eyes shut, head buried in the god's arms, and focused only on breathing deeply until his heart rate had returned to nearly normal. It was only then that he realised that it was Loki shivering, not him, and snapped his head up to look upon the trickster who looked paler than normal. Honestly, he'd gone from the colour of a vampire to a ghostly shade of pale green, and his eyes were glazed over like he was in a trance.

"Loki are you okay?" It sounded like a stupid question but it had been a hectic day for Tony and he decided that he was allowed to ask dumb questions.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, you're fine, we're all fine." The ghostly façade dropped suddenly and the god seemed to be back to normal, well, almost back to normal. For it to be normal, Loki would have talked in a voice that was less shaky.

"No you're not okay, okay? Your face is greener than them vegetables you keep trying to make me eat and last time I checked, A: gods didn't run out of energy after running just a couple of blocks and B: even though I say I trust you, it doesn't mean you can chuck me out of a skyscraper! Did you even have a plan?! If you did then why didn't you at least warn-" He stopped his little rant when he looked Loki in the eye and saw he looked sad. This was the child that always wasn't as good as his brother, the god that was always mocked for being different, the man that's been kicked down all the way through his life and had practically given up. This god had been told that he was rubbish all the way through his life so many times that he believed it. Yes, the billionaire may have had bad days, but Loki probably didn't know what a good day even felt like.

It all clicked in his mind at that moment: Loki had used loads of his unstable magic to teleport down in time to save Tony and that must have drained him of all his energy – he found unlocking his door tiring on the best of days.

He was a bad person. He was the most ungrateful and selfish and heartless being to ever live; he had no right to call Loki evil when this was how he behaved himself.

"Thank you. Thank you ever so much. I'm so sorry I doubted my trust in you and I don't think I could ever thank you enough. You're the greatest person... god, ever, Loki." It was soppy and it was cringe worthy but it had to be said.

The god's face seemed to light up brighter than his arc reactor in a dark room and Tony could tell that there was so much that Loki wanted to say but it felt pointless after the little speech from the heart.

"Now we have the device I can turn you back into a human."

"Yeah..." The billionaire was stuck between wanting to be able to do basic human things again and wanting an excuse to be with Loki all the time. He didn't want to think about when they would just part ways; Tony leaving to be alone in his giant tower and Loki staying in this shabby apartment room alone, both of them probably never meeting up again.

"Although I will have to rest first."

"Of course! Rest as much as you want, I don't mind!" Tony reassured him quickly before he tried pushing his weak body past breaking point – that would not help anyone in the slightest.

He was exhausted too. Yes, it was barely afternoon but he just wanted to sleep and put the days drama behind him. His sleeping pattern was messed up anyway so this was nothing new to him.

They both moved to the bed shortly after that, Loki not even bothering to change out of his clothes although he did take off his shoes and coat. The softness of the duvet made his mind hazy and his eyelids feel as though they were being pulled down by Mjölnir.

"Sleep well Tony."

The billionaire's mind wasn't working like normal when he yawned out his reply. "G'night Loki. Love you."

A/N: See, I'm not evil! I even posted this as soon as possible! Now can everyone join in with a collective "Awwww"?

I was going to have another character swoop in and save Tony but where would be the fun in that? And then Tony would hate Loki for not even attempting to save him... So, yeah, I think they both needed the bonding moment and you all needed the fluff.

This is nothing like the plot I was going to do originally... Not complaining though!

- Tony