CHAPTER 28

I stared at the god in front of me, who was casually sitting only a few meters away from my bed, perfectly at ease. He just smirked. And for some... Strange... Messed up... Delusional... Reason, I wasn't afraid... I wasn't scared of him... I wasn't scared of the number 1 most wanted criminal in the world... I wasn't scared that he was in my room... And I wasn't scared of the consequences should he lose his temper.

"... What are you doing here?" I finally asked and he made a vague gesture with his hand, "Oh, you know... Just in the neighbourhood... Decided to stop by and-", then his eyes hardened, "-And it was a good thing I did too".


I froze.

My arm.

The knife.

Loki had seen me.


Slowly I looked down, turning my left arm over to reveal... Nothing... There was absolutely nothing... No cut... No blood... No scar... Nothing.


I glanced back up at Loki who seemed to be staring at me with interest, "... What did you do?".

He stiffened, "What did I do? Well, let's see... First of all, I found you passed out on the kitchen floor surrounded in a pool of your own blood... Secondly, I managed to actually stabilise you so you wouldn't die... And last but not least, I got rid of all evidence that you sliced open your arm YET AGAIN, and your precious Avengers are none the wiser".

"Their back?" I asked frantically, looking towards the door and he sighed, "Yes Stark. Everyone's back. The Avengers. Miss Potts. And even Colonel Rhodes".

"Well do they know what happened? Do they know I'm here? Do they even know that you're here?" I asked quickly and he glared at me, "STARK. CALM. DOWN. No, they don't know what happened. They haven't the slightest clue. Secondly, yes. They know you're in here. They all had a mini-panic attack when you weren't in the kitchen or the lab, so Dr. Banner checked in here, and found you. He was quiet happy you were alive and just sleeping, though I've no idea why... And thirdly, no. Nobody knows I'm here. Nobody saw me. Nobody heard me. Nobody in this whole universe knows where I am. Happy?".

I stared at him.

This didn't sound like Loki.

At all.

He was actually... Helping me... In a way.

He had saved me from kicking the bucket.

He had sorted out everything else, so it looked like I had just gone to bed.

And the others knew nothing about it.

So I stared at him.


"... Thanks".


He looked up, and what appeared to be... Surprise... Flashed throuh his eyes, "Thanks? What for?".

"For all of this" I said quietly, "For letting the others... Well... Not see me like... Like THAT".

He frowned, "Why do it if you didn't want to get caught?".

"I didn't want to do it..." I muttered, "... I just had to".

"You don't 'have to' do anything Stark. You control your own life" he shot back and I smirked, "That was deep bro...".

He rolled his eyes and huffed, "Honestly Stark. Be serious for a moment will you? You purposely decided to cu-".


He stopped suddenly, looking up towards the door.


He took one quick last glance back at me, before snapping his fingers, and disappearing.


A split second later, there was a knock at the door.


Forcing myself to act normal and calm down, I stood up, quickly walking over at opening it.

Bruce.

He smiled slightly, "You're awake then?".

"... Yea" I replied and he smiled even wider, "And you actually slept?".

I actually sle- I slept. I actually slept. I got a full night of untouched sleep. I. ACTUALLY. SLEPT!

I grinned, "Yea. I did actually".

He grinned as well, "Good. That's very good... See you down in the kitchen yea?".

I nodded and he paused for a minute, before softly shaking his head and wandering back down the hall.

The minute the door was closed, I leant back against it, sliding down to the floor and taking a deep breath.


What hell had just happened?


About half an hour later, I was in the kitchen, sitting down at the counter with a coffee cup in front of me.

I had been staring at it for the past 20 minutes.

Bruce and Natasha were sitting on the other side of the work top, and shot each other a wary look every so often, before turning their attention back on me.

They could tell something was up.

"Tony?" Bruce asked quietly and I glanced up at him.

He swallowed nervously, "Do you... Well... What's happened?".

I shrugged, "... Nothing".


I couldn't tell them about Loki.


That would cause trouble.


Bruce glanced over at Natasha before turning back to me again, "Tony... Something has happened... Did you... You know...".

He trailed off and I sighed, pushing up my sleeves and turning my arms over, "No".

I still couldn't believe there was no scar.


He nodded, "Ok. That's one thing off the list... But what has happened? You're never like this".

I sighed again, but remained silent as I went back to staring at my coffee cup.

"STARK" Natasha snapped, "What. The fuck. Has. Happened?".

"... Nothing" I repeated and she sighed, frustrated, before taking out a gun and pointing it at my head, "Stark talking Stark".

"Natasha" Bruce warned but she ignored him, "Stark if you don't tell us what's wrong in the next thirty seconds I swear to fucking Jeasus Christ that I'll blow your motherfucking head off".

I smiled slightly, "You sound an awful lot like Fury, you know".


They both faltered.


I never called Fury by his real name.


I may call him a bastard, Nickie, Nick, and even that 'old bald guy', but his real name?


Never.


She stared at me for another minute before slowly lowering her gun and sitting down again, "... What's happened to you?".

I shook my head, standing up, "Nothing happened... I'll be in the lab".

Neither of them tried to stop me.