A/N: Okay, a few notes. Hope you guys like this, and I hope it isn't sloppy. Considering how long it took me to get it to you guys you deserve a good bit of work, hope I can give it. Second, remember how a long time ago we had no idea what Loki's staff was so I was stupid and brought it into this? Well I did, so he has the staff in this chapter, but it's just a weapon, no possession. Also happy ending is promised! And violence, but that's just this chapter and most of it's hinted for now. Yay violence.

The drone and he stood facing each other for a few agonizing heartbeats, and then the thing's targeting system clicked in, and there were about ten beams of blue light flying straight for his head. He fell to the ground as quickly as he could in the suit, leaving himself mostly vulnerable to whatever the drone decided to do next. Thankfully his weapons system decided to stop being useless, and by the time he was targeted once more the repulsors were up and ready. The drone fired, and after a second's hesitation to prevent hitting the beams mid-flight Tony launched from the ground and into his bulky opponent. It didn't bother the robot much, aside from carrying it off its feet and through the adjacent wall as they went, but Tony was still human inside his armor, and when they both hit the ground and rolled he could already feel bruises and a headache forming from all the knocking about.

He had no time to go about licking his wounds though- damn bot was already aiming to fire again, and Tony barely had the time to roll on his back and kick out before it did, the repulsor catching it full in the left some scorch marks and a pretty nasty dent, but the damage didn't otherwise seem to be too great, and with his power reserves as low as they were Tony knew he was going to have to improvise to fix that.

Another blast, this time not of his own, but easier now to dodge. Still, Tony had to be careful- these buildings could still have people in them, and if he lined the bot up to shoot the wrong spot he could end up crushing half a city block under the debris. "Loki, you all right over there?" A little more ducking and weaving, and finally Tony grew impatient enough to launch into the air, followed moments later by the hammer bot. Things never were too smart. It was a lot slower than he was, so he took a winding route through the closest park JARVIS could alert him too, startling a few ducks on the way.

The only answer he got was a buzz of static, and a feeble attempt by JARVIS to explain the damaged comm system. Tony was more than done with being separated from Loki in moments of danger- unfortunate for the drone that it was the one trying to keep him away, but he couldn't really feel much pity for anything manufactured by Justin Hammer. There was a tree thick and towering every ten feet or so, all he needed to do was find one thick enough- the environmentalists would probably hate him, but he had bigger priorities than one or two plants.

A last minute swerve was all he needed. The bot was nowhere near agile enough to follow, crashing through the tree didn't destroy it, but the sound of creaking metal that the collision brought meant it had come pretty damn close. Tony turned mid-flight, only coming to a hovering halt once he had reassured himself there as enough metal ripped off that thing's body for him to get in a good shot or two. "You know, I really hope somebody's watching the security feed from this thing. Hammer, if you're listening- yeah, I'm alive. If you want to stay that way yourself, I suggest you get running."

The drone raised its hand to fire, but Tony's was faster. The repulsor shot through a gap in the armor, and with a spark and twitch both overdramatic and anticlimactic in its own way, the thing toppled to the ground and continued to smoke. He hoped it wouldn't start any fires- one tree was fine, but the whole park could be dangerous.

Well, not like he had the time to check. He gave a sarcastic salute to the fallen drone, just in case its camera were still functioning, and turned back towards the unfortunate university. That machine was still going strong, but the light had begun to shrink, normally a sign of weakness but in the case of this particular weapon probably just an indicator that it was finally focussing on its target. Tony booted what little power he could spare to the repulsors to speed himself along, tumbling low once when they died, but recovering the moment systems recovered. Not the best condition for starting out a battle, but it was too late to fix that now.

Though when he arrived the fight seemed in no need of another member- or, more correctly, so flashy and dangerous that getting close would probably be impossible. Loki was back in that gold armor, some sort of staff in hand that was launching blue blasts not only at Schmidt but anything near him, blasting holes in the street and buildings alike. There'd have been more risk of danger, but Loki was also apparently taking precautions- a ring of black fire around their dueling station would make it impossible for Schmidt to flow the coop again.

If he weren't so scared for Loki Tony would have loved this- the look on Schmidt's face was beyond priceless. He was clearly in shock by the god's reappearance and none too happy either, a dazed expression prevalent even as he avoided what he could of Loki's attacks and made his own with what seemed to be no more than a small blue gun in hand. The blue it fired was too close to the make of the drone's blasts to be reassuring though, so Tony made a note to take no needless risks with that thing.

"Lo-" No, element of surprise would do him the favor here. Tony landed as quietly as he could, though the repulsors made a few not-good sounds in protest, and took only a few steps forward before freezing. What the hell was he doing? That machine was mostly unguarded, the drones seemed to be out looking for him- worried though he was, he'd do them all a few favors by taking that thing down.

The best way to do that would probably require taking the tesseract out, which he figured was probably the stupidest thing or people with not-magic skin to attempt to do. But hey, better than just sitting there, so off he went once again, repulsors letting off a crack as he took flight that probably completely devastated his hopes for taking the element of surprise, if Loki was giving Schmidt any chance to look around. Tony landed mid-way up the machine, grabbing on to the first ledge he could spot and dragging his hand over the surface. The control panel had to be down below, but he'd seen where the power focused from the outset, whatever was keeping this running was waiting in here somewhere-

The weapon shook, and Tony only managed to keep one hand latched on, nearly blown off. He cursed more than once and moved to right himself, continuing his task as soon as the shaking had ceased. Not good, couldn't be more than a minute left.

"Come on, come on..." Of course it wouldn't be easy to find, couldn't Schmidt miss out on one little damn detail? The machine creaked, and Tony latched one once more, but this time to some advantage- the suit was pathetically fighting to function, and the screen had prevailed enough that it was picking up heat signatures, one much greater than the others not too far from his hand. "Ah, JARVIS, I love you, did you know that?"

A little weak crackling was his only response. The spot took a little contortion to get to, and a lot of precarious balancing, but Tony managed to hold himself steady enough that he could begin to burn a ring around the warm circle within the machine. Sucks the thing weren't made of a battery or something, be so much easier if he could just punch through it. What was the fun of being a superhero if he had to break things slowly?

The metal fell away in a perfect little circle, more than enough room for Tony to reach his hand in, groping for the source of the blue light that had begun pouring out. Down below something crashed and creaked, and somebody- he was too far up to guess who- grunted in pain. Loki, or Schmidt? He was almost tempted to check, but his hand felt like it was going to melt off, and he hadn't even grabbed the tesseract. No need to drag this out.

Tony had been expecting something dangerous, but his preparations for a fight, of whatever sort, didn't do him any good- the moment his glove wrapped around the tesseract his body went rigid within the suit, which relaxed what little useful tension it had been holding, giving up his grip on both the tower and the power source within.

"Shit-!" Tony shouted, or at least attempted to. His jaw wasn't responding either, aside from small and painful spasms of muscle whenever he tried to force movement. Which was actually quite a lot, considering a second later he was rushing towards solid concrete with no more protection than a metal death trap.

He couldn't even flex his hand to try sparking the suit up manually- he couldn't even breathe, though that didn't really register until his lungs began to burn because of it. The luxury of shutting his eyes wasn;t available either, and so Tony watched not quite in slow motion as the tower grew longer above him, and could do nothing to help himself but wonder if Loki would be able to move in time to stop him before he fell.

And long before he hit the ground- about twenty feet yet, if he was calculating right (and he was pretty sure he was, Tony being Tony after all)- something probably harder than the concrete collided with his right side and knocked away what little wind he had left. Tony would have cursed again had he been able, but even the thought of it never crossed his mind. In fact, it was close to a minute before he had any thought at all.

He was awake before he realized he had fallen unconscious, about half a minute before he could even attribute the awful gasping noise around him to his own breathing. Fuck. His chest was burning, not from air alone. Fucking fuck. "Who- agh, god- whose-?"

"Steady, mortal, do not do yourself further harm. Rest here and you will be safe." A voice replied, not far from his side. Tony blinked the blur away from his vision and sat quickly upright, only to be held from moving by a strong pressure, gentle enough, at his chest.

Well, whatever, he had a view enough of the one holding him down- huge, blond, and dressed like something out of a bad production of "Julius Caesar". "Oh shit, you're Thor. No, you can't be here, he'll- agh, dammit..."

"You know my name?" Thor (it had to be Thor, he fit the description Loki had given perfectly) stared at him in a brief flash of surprise, but quickly recovered. "You should not speak, those are not injuries of your world. Remain where you are, I have business to take care of, I will return when I am done."

That wasn't a good look, that was a very angry look that Tony didn't like seeing aimed off towards where Loki and Schmidt had been fighting. Had, because Thor's arrival had brought quite the boom with it, and it looked like they'd both been knocked back somewhere. Tony only hoped Schmidt had got the worst of it- unlikely, since he could see him, standing up near the ruins of some telephone pole and dusting himself off with a bitter look, but Loki was out of sight.
"No, no- you stay here, listen, that guy wants to-"

"I know what he wants, and he will not have it. Do not interfere, you will only wound yourself further."

Tony continued to babble, though even with his mask torn off- when had that happened?- and half the chestplate torn -wonderful, couldn't Asgardians ever be gentle? - the suit was still too heavy for him to sit up and actually pull Thor back. So it was easy for the god to ignore him, and Tony was forced to watch him grab his hammer from where it lay beside them both and fly- actually fly- off to the fight, apparently unaware that he was wanted nowhere near it.

VVV

There were far too many trees in this infernal place to call it a city- Loki had nearly crashed through one, missing it (and an awful headache) by a third of an inch, and fallen straight into the mud. If not for his magic his armor would have been awful by the time he was upright, and even then he still had his own bruising to deal with. But more than anything aesthetic or physical Loki had somewhat cosmic problems on mind- Thor.

He had seen that light and sensed that magic, his so-called brother was here on earth. Schmidt had succeeded to summon his god, he of course had no means of controlling the blithering brat, but Loki's drive for movement was gone from him long after he had righted himself. Thor. After all he'd endured, and how hard he'd fought, the Thunderer had still made it to Midgard. If it would not reveal him- Loki had failed, but he still might have revenge yet- he would have screamed in blind rage, not a common outlet for him. After all his work!

Loki was breathing harshly in his anger, and when he took the time to recover he was forced to think as well. No need to panic yet. Schmidt was strong, though Thor would probably finish him off, he may get in a blow or two with genuine damage in the end. Enough, if he was lucky, for Loki to make his mood once they had finished their squabbling.

It was far from a wonderful plan but it was one he was willing to accept. Walking slowly was no great effort, it hurt simply to move his legs by this point, but Loki took the added care to remain as quiet as possible as he went along, crouched as low as he safely could manage and breathing just barely. He hesitated long enough only to remove his helmet- he did love it, yet he had to admit his preferred armor was a tad bit... ostentatious.

Thor would likely be looking for him, and Loki did not intend to be easily found. It was of course easy to remain concealed, thanks to this pointless arrangement of foliage the humans had set into their city, yet once he was close enough to watch for his opening it was clear that any one misstep would give him away. Luckily it was easier to hear than to see- Thor had never been able to boast a mild manner.

"Do not waste your words on me, mortal- I have not come to play your pawn," Thor was responding, though to what Loki had not heard. Not difficult to guess, knowing Schmidt. "You have crimes to pay for, no slaves to win. Fight or lay where you are, it makes little difference to me."

Hm, well, that was unusual. Thor was usually such a fool about honor, perhaps he had actually grown intelligent in Loki's absence. "I have no intentions of fighting you, Thunderer. And neither do I fear you- I had hoped you would cooperate, but I am willing to improvise."
At the sound of a crash Loki dared to peek his head out. Schmidt's confidence was far from founded it seemed, for Thor already had the man pinned, a circle of cracks and rubble about him showing he had hit him hard against the building before keeping him there.

"I am in no mood for banter, mortal," Thor growled, and though Loki could only see the back of his head it was easy to imagine a feral snarl. The prince often became doggish when he was in a foul mood. "Were I able I would bring you to Asgard to face our torture chambers, but I doubt my patience will hold so long."

Curious, Loki moved closer just minutely- it was the rare thing that had Thor this riled up. "How pleasantly barbaric of you. Unfortunately, I have no intentions of accepting your punishments."
The two must have gotten to a brief fight, though Loki considered such a word may be an exaggeration, for it was a moment before anyone spoke again, and this time there was a minute touch of strain in Thor's voice. "Do not think you can escape me, you may have your tricks but you are no match for an Asgardian."

"Your confidence is outstanding." Another quick look, then back down. The two were facing each other, and Schmidt's hand was lurking near his gun, hidden from Thor's view. No ordinary pistol either, Loki had to admit- his shoulder was not bleeding, but there was a large patch without skin where it ought to be. "Do you think I would have brought you here had I anything to fear? I have methods- such a shame, though, that I will have to resort to them."

"I know your 'methods', mortal. You are not so protected on this earth as you believe- I swear you will pay tenfold for every wound my brother felt at your hand!"

Brother? What- no, Thor couldn't possibly still insist on that, Odin must have told him by now that they were not related. Loki glanced once more, but Thor seemed genuine serious, a blend of anger and ache that he would not have the skill or intelligence to duplicate. Heimdall must have shown him, or explained. Loki had been doing his best to keep hidden from the old fool, but on Schmidt's table his defenses must have failed him.

The man of the hour seemed to believe this likelihood even less than Loki did. "Ah, but if I caught the Trickster how can you think yourself so far from my grasp? I do not go into battle lightly."

"I do not know how you captured Loki, but I am sure it was not by any fair means. Whatever you believe, know this- I thought my brother dead before, to see him alive..." Loki hid his face again at this, unwilling to see Thor's expression during such talk. "You are the reason I have lost him again. That is a mistake you cannot undo."

Thor thought him dead once more? Heimdall must not have seen him leave the room, only thought he had died in it. Or else on hearing such news his idiotic brother had left to hear no more, or perhaps... it mattered not. Loki was again thought dead by Thor at least, an advantage he knew the tricks of since seeing that shock on Schmidt's face when he first re-appeared. He had to use that, if he could.

But Schmidt he had not counted on- the man laughed in a way that paused Thor in his wrath, and Loki cursed silently. Even the thunderer was not too stupid to recognize the signs of a fight, he would at least consider the truth of it if Schmidt spoke his piece. "It seems misinformation is common even in the gods. The Liesmith has tricked us both, he is alive yet. A shame too."
"Do not mock me." Oh, how wonderful, Thor really was a fool. "I will not be driven by more false hopes- you killed my brother, I have nothing more to hear from you."

A crack of thunder or the swing of mjolnir- it was hard to distinguish one sound from the other, yet either could be possible. Loki heard nothing but fighting after that, and only once he was sure things were in full swing could he look upright, keeping as well hidden as possible. Thor rarely noticed the outside world when he was in his battles, but it was no chance he wished to take.

As expected, Schmidt's fight was more an effort to stave off Thor with dignity than any offensive maneuver. He seemed fairly calm, though it could only have been minutes before that hammer met his skull. Clearly there was some other plan... ah, of course. Loki fell to the ground and dove under the cover of one of those tiny, pointless bushes the mortals kept about. A few moments later and a drone flew by a little ways off- not gunning for him, but certainly in a position where it would have noticed had he been upright. Thor was too busy grappling with Schmidt- the man was strong, clearly, and in much cooler head than the thunderer, freer to focus on the fight and his own attacks, which actually gained him the opportunity to connect a few- and anyway never really attentive to such things. The robot could be on him in a second and he'd hardly have the mind to notice.

Yet even as Loki smirked and prepared to watch, he felt unease build close behind. If the drone was here, it must have come from some other target, as Schmidt clearly had no way to call it. Thor and the human were not quite easy to access, and the robot was waiting almost intelligently for a chance, clearly with time to spare. Not here on a rush command of any sort, or even scouting- it could have called, made an order, but if it had accomplished its last task there would be no need to hurry.

Hadn't those machines gone after Tony? But this one was not damaged-he had fallen, perhaps... No. He could hardly be dead, wasn't the whole point of ridiculous things like love that if one was harmed the other would know? He could be hurt, lying somewhere bleeding, or dying from his heart, and here Loki was hiding in the shadows. If Tony, his Tony, died just because of some grudge he hardly knew what he would do with himself.

These things needed to be destroyed, the quicker the better, that Loki might find Tony and heal any wounds he sported. "Thor!" The bush was easy to hop over, and without his cover all attention found him in a moment.

Luckily for him the drone was quickest to react, and its rush towards him only made the blast from his staff all the more effective. A chunk of metal flying near his head was the only risk Loki took from that particular enemy. Thor wasn't so fast- he seemed to be doubting his own sight, and rather than spark the fight he'd seen growing in his once-time brother Loki had to watch it melt into infuriating shock, mjolnir half-lowered at the thunderer's side.

"Brother, you're-"

"No time for that now, the man!" Perhaps things were going a little too quickly for Thor's less than speedy mind to handle, but the familiar voice seemed to have some effect at least. Thor turned with mjolnir raised, and as Schmidt drew his gun threw the hammer into the mortal's chest.

It knocked him back a satisfying amount, but more likely than not left him alive all the same. But it gave them time. Loki lowered his spear for now, looking around frantically for some familiar sign of red and gold, but Thor jogged to his side, hands clamping down on his shoulders. Loki flinched, but the other seemed oblivious to his dislike, grabbing him a little too tightly as if to ensure he was really there, really solid and alive. Petty sentiment and unwelcome even when Loki was whole- with the wounds to his shoulders such things were outright painful.

"Loki... how did you survive? I saw you die," Thor wondered in a voice too delighted to be broken, though Loki could sense an almost painful relief in the words. Asgardians were not afraid of tears, but he hoped Thor weren't so happy as that- he was barely holding back his anger for the fool as it was. "I thought I had lost you again."

Again? As if he'd ever been found- or perhaps he had, but not by Thor. "Please do not bother me with such pointless details now. There are more of those machines about, you need to find them and do away with them. Leave the mortal to me, understand?"

Battle was a language Thor would always speak. Mjolnir was tight in hand even before he had finished, and though he was still holding back some obviously conflicting and unwelcome emotions Thor nodded without complaint. "I will find them, but you must promise to be here once I return."

"Very well, just go!" Loki snarled, perhaps viciously enough to actually earn a normal response from Thor. He stared, looking hurt for a moment, but was off once it was demanded one time more, leaving Loki to his own business. No time to shuffle about, Tony was somewhere, possibly in danger, and revenge had to come second to that.

VVV

It was a long time before Tony could move, and all through his struggles to strip off his ruined suit he had to endure the uncertain sounds of battle from just too far off. His head was still fuzzy after all, he could tell people were speaking and yelling but not who or what about- it could be Loki cursing Thor, or either of them in pain, or just a lot of nothing. Whatever the case it was also extremely distracting, and Tony's efforts were halfway futile because of it.

But the armor came off, and his trembling muscles dragged him to his feet. Tony was pretty sure the insides of his legs had turned to some sort of liquid, there was no other way it could be this difficult just to walk. A single step had him half collapsing, even with the help of the building Thor had hidden him by. But by now Tony was a bit of an expert in moving like a cripple, so he made some pretty steady progress.

Still, by the time he made it to the scene of the action, things were in a bit of an uproar. He wasn't even sure where to look- Thor was demolishing some Hammerdrones not too far off, and Tony had to duck to avoid the ruins of one's head, but Loki was far still, and his fight with Schmidt didn't seem to be going so well.

He was still hurt, it was half a miracle he could even move with what had happened to his stomach, fighting like this was no good. Tony wanted to call out, but his throat was still mostly unresponsive, and when he tried to get closer quicker he only managed to trip over a block of rubble. Good thing, too, as the wall he'd just been next to was half destroyed a second later, and Thor didn't notice who he'd almost killed until the risk had passed.

"You, what are you doing here? I told you to run." Loki was godlike in his own way, but Tony had to admit that Thor really had the job down pat- even he couldn't help admitting he looked a little intimidating, though that might have been because he was carrying a giant hammer and Tony was lying on his ass.

"Yeah, see, I'm not the best at following orders, priorities and all that." Standing was no good, but when Thor gave him a hand he managed it more or less fine, but immediately brushed off and tried again to hurry forward.

Schmidt's gun seemed to be gone, but he'd snatched up a metal pipe somewhere, and Loki didn't look all that comfortable with the staff he was using to defend himself from it. Granted the staff was a lot more dangerous, but Loki was also a lot more exhausted. What was Thor doing here, when his brother was over there?

A blast near their heads was answer enough. Ah, right, hammerdrones. Thor gave him a quick and useless warning then shot off to fight, yet again leaving Tony alone in his confusion. There weren't many of those bots hanging around, he'd have to trust Thor could deal with them alone. Not like he'd be a genuine help even if he tried. Tony grabbed for the nearest wall just in time to keep on his feet, and after testing his balance continued his valiant hobble towards the battling superhumans.

Loki and Schmidt were moving almost impossibly fast, but he could see when a blow met. Schmidt was at least taking the most of those, and it looked like Loki was gaining the upper hand. That spear was cutting skin (or mask, that must've looked pretty weird from where Loki was, but Tony was too far off to tell) and drawing blood, while the bar left bruises but not much else, and Tony actually let out a sigh of relief when Loki not only dodged a blow but hooked his leg behind Schmidt's foot and blasted the man against the ground in one movement.

Loki was definitely doing well- at least, until the pipe was shoved through the lower left half of his stomach.

Tony wasn't sure if his shout or Loki's scream drew Thor's attention, but the effect was more or less the same. He let out his own cry, this one more of rage and worry than Tony's protective fear, and with a few enraged swings had the last bot in rubble at his feet. This Tony only recognized in passing- he was running, or as close to running as he could, towards Loki with no attention to spare. There was a lot of blood, even visible from here, and now it was Loki on the ground, Schmidt rising cautiously above him, after searching for his gun of course, the glint of it clear in his hand.

Loki must have seen it just as well, for he began to move backward now, shaking his head in a way that was probably instinctual. Tony could hear and see little, but he didn't need to imagine Loki's fear- he'd heard it before, when Schmidt had peeled the skin off his stomach. "Loki!"
He and Thor mingled voices, but one had the obvious effect. Tony was growing dizzy himself, but he could see the god rush forward, probably about the fly over for his brother's aid, but also saw him freeze, hammer raised and a look of bafflement on his face. Tony wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until the recoil knocked that hammer into something. "What are you doing? Go over there!"

Thor didn't even look at him. Loki meanwhile had come up short, and Schmidt was hovering above him, gun aimed for a clear shot to the head, mouth moving with some taunt Tony couldn't distinguish. He shouted a warning that either went ignored or unheard, Loki flinched and looked away, and Schmidt dropped his gun as something bashed into the side of his head.

Tony should have expected this, but he hardly knew magic even after all this time. The Loki on the ground flickered out of view, the pole through his stomach suddenly in the hands of the real Loki, who stood behind the man he had just struck with one arm pressed over his bleeding stomach. Schmidt staggered, but before he could recover mjolnir whizzed past Tony and hit him clean in the chest, launching the bastard back a good ten feet.

Tony would have cheered if he weren't so confused. Loki was giving him no time for explanations though, with Schmidt down he had a chance to move, and it was obvious he wasn't going to waste it. The god was too quick to bother with even turning back to them, and Tony had just enough time to realize what Loki was going to do and wonder if he could actually do it before shutting his eyes.

It wasn't that he had a thing against violence- he'd killed plenty, people he'd known and people he hadn't- or blood or any of that, more that he didn't really want the image in his head of Loki beating somebody to death with a metal pipe. Or, rather, that he didn't want the image of him enjoying it, and he knew Loki would find few things less entertaining, after all they'd dealt with.
So though he heard Thor step towards his brother of sorts Tony waited it out with his eyes shut until he was more or less sure it was safe to do otherwise. That being when a familiar pair of arms- and a familiar and extremely disgusting scent of blood- wrapped around him, and an exhausted weight slumped against his own.

Tony could see blood more than skin when he looked to Loki, though at this point it was hard to tell whose it was except for the stuff soaking his stomach, so thick on the fabric that it had thoroughly stained Tony's even through brief contact. "Shit, Loki, you're not supposed to just rip that thing out- okay, come on, we need pressure on that."

"Don't worry so much," Loki scoffed with a slur that drew a worried look even from Thor. The god had come up with a hand on Loki's back, and Tony took advantage of the help to swing one of his boyfriend's half-limp arms over his shoulder, since it was clear he stood little chance of standing otherwise. The bloodloss must have been worse than the pain, because Loki only gave a quiet laugh at this and tried to kiss Tony, uncoordinated and exhausted. He mostly just ended up failing, head falling in a lull against Tony's cheek and breath coming in a contented little purr. "Look, we won, and you're not dead. It's wonderful, isn't it? I think so. I like it. Hold still-"

Another attempt at a kiss, this time barely even a movement. Tony staggered, trying to support Loki's weight, and threw Thor a fearful look. "He needs help. Can you get us to a doctor?"

"He needs the healers, no mortal can fix these wounds." Thor was holding most of Loki's weight, which made it difficult to get a good look at his injuries, but that ddidn't stop him from trying. He looked as worried as Tony felt. "I will bring him home-"

"Home? I have to get home, got to feed the cat..."

"That's nice darling, shut up. He's not going back there. If you bring him to that place, I'll never see him again." It sounded selfish, and maybe it was- but Tony couldn't bear that thought. Asgard would not give up their prince again.

"He will die if he remains!"

"He's not going, at least not alone!" Tony's yelling wasn't too firm, when he could barely stand, but Loki gave a little grunt of pain and slumped further against him, which made the point well enough. "Bring me with you. I know him, I what happened. I'm not leaving him."

Things were moving too quickly for Tony to even consider the gravity of what he was asking, but Thor knew well enough. He knew, and he watched Tony for a long moment, but turned to his brother- half conscious and still trying to coordinate himself enough to kiss Tony, despite usually just nudging his cheek on the attempt- and something passed through his mind that made the choice clear enough.

"Very well. I do not know who you are to my brother, mortal, but I beg you to do what you can for his sake. Come, Asgard waits."

A/N:If things seemed rush, that's because they are. Kind of. Everything is going really fast in this bit- while Loki winds down in the next chapter the story will too, so anything unclear or seemingly incomplete'll be fleshed out then.

Also, next one may be the last, but if so it'll be loooong. I'm not planning a sequel yet- this thing is going on AO3 with a ton of revision and added/altered parts as soon as I finish it on here- but I might. For now though I'll be focusing on Myosotis, revising this, and an AU I haven't posted yet (for obvious reasons, it takes me long enough to update as it is). Hopefully I won't make you wait for the next one too long, sorry about all these delays.