Chapter 7: Questions

It was a anxious half an hour while Bruce fussed over Pepper, Tony sitting awkwardly in the corner couch, still in his Iron Man suit, watching the doctor like a hawk (or a Hawkeye).

If it wasn't for the fact that the person staring him was Tony Stark, Bruce would have asked the worried loved one to leave the room while he performed his examination on his patient. He didn't like being made to feel nervous and second guessing himself due to the suspicions that onlookers were judging him while he worked. But this onlooker was Tony Stark, so he didn't bother raising the topic since he knew it was my Tower, my rules, being the same answer he received when he once asked said billionaire to turn down his rock music.

Pepper got the full treatment of all the toys: stethoscope, sphygmomanometer, thermometer, and even blood drawn to which Bruce hurried down to the closest Stark lab with a microscope to see if any abnormalities were present. To Bruce's adequately qualified medical knowledge, nothing he could detect with the equipment he had on hand revealed anything physically wrong with the patient.

So then it was decided Pepper's physical condition was stable enough to give her a small dose of adrenaline to see if they could wake her up.

Pepper woke up in seconds of being injected, screaming.

Recovering from the initial shock of Pepper's very high pitched blood curdling scream, Tony rushed to her side taking a seat on the edge of the bed, affectionately cupping her face with his Iron Man hand (he should have taken the suit off! How he missed the touch of her skin) directing the red-head's startled and frantic eyes to meet his. Tony stared at her, in comfort and reassurance, as Pepper hysterically darted her gaze all around the room coming to grips of her surroundings. Then it hit her.

"Tony!" She let out in a pained cry and shot up from her lying position on the bed and threw her arms around him. Tony gently returned the embrace, holding Pepper against his suit (why had he left it on!) and rested the exposed skin of his face against her hair. Even through the armour, he could sense her whole body shivering.

"It's alright Pep, you're safe."

Pepper was the first to break the hold, pulling back and staring at Tony with joyful tears swelling at the corners of her eyes.

Bruce stood back from the couple, letting them have their moment. But after a minute or two it started to get quite awkward.

"Hmmm" Bruce coughed, failing miserably in pretending to simply clear his throat without making a ploy for attention.

"Oh I am sorry Bruce." Pepper exclaimed finally bringing her eyes away from Tony and noticing the good doctor standing not to far from the foot of the bed.

"Excellent. Clear and immediate memory recognition." Bruce commented, which garnered a confused frown from Pepper, until her eyes drifted to the bedside table next to her and she noticed the collection of the obviously used medical equipment sitting there in a neat pile.

Bruce was the first to pick up on Pepper's rising trepidation to the objects adjacent to her.

"We couldn't find any irregularities," he advised, "I'll want to do some follow ups, but for now I believe I can give you a clear bill of health." Pepper breathed a sigh of relief at the news, looking back at Tony with a tremendous smile, which he immediately returned.

"Gotta say, you had us worried there," the doctor continued, "and I can't begin to imagine what you've been through for the past two weeks."

"Two weeks!" Pepper's outcry made both men present jump in surprise.

"Yeah, you've been missing for two weeks. You didn't know?" Tony asked.

"No. No. It couldn't of been two weeks." Pepper was running her free hand through her hair in confusion, the other stayed gripping that of Tony's armoured hand, which now had tightened into a forceful grip.

"Well to me it felt like two years. But honestly, two weeks Pep. Without a trace." Tony knew from Pepper's startled expression that she was already in a state of alarm, and perhaps he shouldn't be pushing her right now, but he had never been skilled at being patient when it came to his curiosity. When Tony Stark wanted answers, he hated waiting, well actually that applied to anything Tony wanted.

So he continued. "You don't remember?"

"I... no." Pepper answered, which made everyone in the room writhe uncomfortably.

"Nothing?" Bruce enquired.

"No." A dark expression spread across Pepper's face. Why couldn't she remember? How could it possibly have been two weeks?

"Wait, Loki!" She burst out suddenly. "Yes, I was with Loki. But only for a minute. We were, somewhere dark." Pepper's face contorted, like pushing her brain for the memories was painful. She closed her eyes as she concentrated on retrieving the information.

"Loki, he was. I don't know. He looked afraid. And there were creatures there. But then, I can't remember." Pepper sneered angrily at herself, and turned her eyes hesitant across to Tony in apprehension expecting him to appear disappointed, but all she saw was the man she loved looking at her dotingly, eyes wide and full of affection.

Tony rubbed her back in reassurance. "Well, don't worry. He got what he deserved," he stated with hardened distain in his tone.

"What does that mean?" Bruce asked hesitantly. It was then he realised then he didn't even know how Tony had gotten Pepper back, didn't have the luxury of time before putting all his attention to examining her. This made Bruce swallow in foreboding. Did he even want to know what Tony meant? Oh Tony, what did you do...

"Oh right," Tony realised, "I didn't tell you. When I found Pepper, Loki was there too."

Bruce's eyebrows lifted in surprise, "He brought her back?"

"No, he was out cold as well." Tony sighed, he didn't want to tell the rest of the story, but he knew the next words from Bruce were going to be 'shouldn't we alert SHIELD' or 'shouldn't we go get him?' and they would find out anyway in either event. "And, he didn't look like he had spent the last two weeks in Hawaii."

"What does that mean?" Pepper's turn to push for answers from Tony. Why was he being so obscure? she thought to herself before realising that Tony was always dismissive when it came to topics of him doing, or not doing as the case usually was when it came to his duties involving Stark Industries, something she would disapprove of. Oh Tony, what did you do...

Tony sighed, "The guy looked like he had gone one on one with Freddy Kruger. He was pretty messed up."

"He was hurt!" Pepper cried.

"And you just left him there?" Bruce looked more shocked than Tony had expected, which was kind of offensive. Loki was the bad guy here, not him.

"Hey!" Tony went on the defence, standing up from the bed, putting full effort into his clichéd Stark flare-up, "Don't take this out on me. Priority number one was Pepper. I didn't know if anything was wrong with her. Plus, I called out to Thor. It's not like I left the bastard to die. But you know what, I fucking hell should of! He is a mass murdering psychopath who wouldn't hesitate to gut any one of us."

Awkward silence. No one wanted to admit that Tony's statement of better-off-dead was true, even if they agreed with it.

"Then why am I alive?" Pepper murmured beside him. Tony had expected a comment from Bruce, and was taken slightly aback that the first to speak was Pepper.

"What?" Tony asked. Not that he didn't hear her, but he genuinely didn't know why she would ask such a question. You are alive because I love you! And I need you! he pleaded in his mind, ready to sweep the woman up in his arms again.

"Look at me Tony..." Pepper moved to stand, Bruce and Tony flinched towards her to coax her back in bed but she thwarted their attempts with a determined frown and a raising of her palm to leave her be. She threw her feet over the bed, pushed herself up, and stood. Surprisingly, she was steady on her feet. She didn't even feel dizzy.

"I am fine," she continued, "I don't know if perhaps later we might find something wrong with me," that made Tony cringe, "but right now I feel normal. And if Loki is as wounded as you say he is, doesn't that raise the question, why not me?"

Tony crossed his arms stubbornly, "No." A few seconds passed. "Maybe." He grimaced. He already knew well what Pepper was getting at, he had been thinking it since Bruce began his tests and had a few moments to himself on the couch. Why did Loki look like he was on his death bed, and Pepper didn't have a scratch on her? It was wracking his brain and made no sense whatsoever that Loki would stick his decrepit neck out for Pepper, or any human 'ant' for that matter. The unanswered questions kept gnawing at him being the infuriating nuisances that they were.

Damn his ravenous thirst for knowledge. Damn it!

It was with tremendous reluctance that Iron Man now found himself flying over New York in the opposite direction from Pepper. All he wanted to do was to sit by her side and praise the Gods for returning her to him. Well, no scratch that. Damn gods. Why couldn't they just stay on their mountain in the clouds and leave him the hell alone. He knew that Asgard probably didn't actually look like Mount Olympus, but the point still stood as valid.

So now, he was headed back to the outskirts of the city in search of Loki. And really, what was he expecting to find when he got there? He contemplated there were three viable possibilities. Number one obviously being Tony returned to an unconscious bleeding out God of Mischief. In this instance, what was he suppose to do? Probably call SHIELD he imagined, get the psycho some medical help, which he didn't deserve Tony reasoned. The sonovabitch was finally getting his comeuppance. Who was he to interfere? It was the will of the Gods. Tony couldn't help but scoff a laugh at his own thoughts which prompted JARVIS to ask, "Is something comical sir?" and respond "it's nothing JARVIS."

Second possibility, a dead Loki. Well, the answers to his questions would then die with him. It would drive him crazy for a few weeks not knowing what happened to Loki and Pepper for the past two weeks, but not the worst of outcomes he considered. Did that make me a bad person? He thought, but quickly buried that idea with all the other depression signifying ideas that will surely someday in the future be retold to an overpaid therapist.

Then finally, it may well be that Loki wouldn't even be there when he got there. Maybe the trickster pulled a fast one and ran off. Maybe Thor took him back to Asgard. Maybe whoever dumped him there came back and finished what they started.

Putting his thoughts to the side, Tony braced himself for the answers to come as the horizon revealed the familiar industrial buildings on the outskirts of the city.

The noon sun was blazing brightly and in the clearer day, no longer overcome by the torrent of hysteria when looking for Pepper, he really took notice of how run down and dilapidated the area was. The buildings were all covered in graffiti, there was rubbish and metal debris scattered everywhere, and almost no glass windows were free from holes courtesy of the local riff-raffs who had waged war against the glass and anything else that made that satisfying noise of smashing.

Flying overhead, his HUD informing him that he was indeed was at the location where he had located Pepper, Tony looked down to the ground in search of his answers, that memorable image of a blacked clothed figure lying motionless on the ground still in his mind's eye, but not in the surroundings before him.

Bringing himself down to the ground, he located the thick red fluids that were once covered by the god's body, only this time Tony could see clearly just how much blood Loki was lying on. It was a lot of blood and it almost made him heave.

Pulling his disgusted stare away from the red pool, something new caught his eyes. It was a trail. A subtle trail, only a few drops of blood littered the ground every few steps, but a trail he could follow. He followed it up to the slightly open doorway to a steel framed warehouse. The metal door was barely still on its runners, but the gap was wide enough for Tony to fit through even in his Iron Man suit.

The inside of the warehouse was completely open and lit up with the natural sunlight pouring in from all the broken windows overhead. The area was bare, nothing but four walls, a roof, and Thor in the corner kneeling next to a very still Loki who laid dead straight, his arms bent at his sides and the palms of his hands resting on his chest.

"Hello my friend." Thor greeted glancing up at Tony. Tony coughed out a "hi", not really knowing what else to say in this situation... and was that Loki laying there with rocks on top of him? Yeap strange yellow glowing rocks Tony confirmed upon walking the few steps towards the gods from the doorway. Thor must of noticed, even with the unemotional covering of the Iron Man mask, Tony's stares concerning said alien-looking rocks, the eyeholes in his helmet giving away what he was observing.

"Healing stones." Thor clarified.

"Oh." Well, that explains everything then! Could be worse, Tony considered, at least Thor wasn't trying to feed Loki golden apples. He had read somewhere that that was the medical treatment for ailments of Norse gods.

An awkward silence passed between the two men of which Tony was just too distracted in gawking at Loki's wounds and Thor was clandestinely assessing the prospect of Iron Man initiating anything hostile, the thunder god's eyes flinching slightly at his hammer and evaluating how quickly he could bring it from its resting position at his side to defend his brother. Fast enough, he reasoned, but he really hoped he wouldn't be forced to do anything of the sort against his friend... again.

If Tony did suspect that Thor was acting guardedly, he didn't comment on it, especially considering it wasn't unlike Thor to act protective of his brother.

"Wouldn't it be better to do that in Asgard?" Tony asked finally breaking the silence. He simply enquired for Loki's sake of course, not that he just wanted the guy far, far away. Well, that's what he told himself anyway. Thor knew better, although he didn't confront Tony about it.

"The alchemist employed the extent of his dark magic to send me here. I cannot return until he has time to replenish." That's right Tony remembered, the one way ticket thing.

The civil exchanges between himself and Tony gave Thor calm that perhaps Tony was not here to instigate anything against him or his brother, but Thor would be naive if he was not at least suspicious, taking into account that had transpired against Tony brought about by his brother.

Thor's disposition had never been one of patience, he shared that trait with Tony, but as he had learned from Loki over the years, tact was always the best course when dealing with a suspicious character - friend or foe, which Tony right now could be either.

"Tell me my friend, how is Lady Potts?" Perhaps if Thor knew how badly Tony's lady had been injured, he could ascertain his intentions now towards his brother.

Tony didn't even question how Thor knew that Pepper wasn't still missing. If the guardian of Asgard could allegedly see everything, which as a side note irked Tony out to no end (he just hoped the guy had boundaries when it came to his surveillance), he must of informed Thor that Iron Man had retreated with Pepper and left Loki on the ground to bleed out. Should I feel guilty about that? No, he told himself, adding that idea to the pile for the future therapist.

"Well she doesn't look like she lost a fight with Wolverine. Which I'll add I would suspect sliced up your brother here if it wasn't completely against his character to abandon a helpless woman after scratching up the bad guy." Thor didn't add any comment, he didn't want to admit that Loki had deserved what he got being the 'bad guy' in the scenario.

Tony took pause before admitting, "But as much as it baffles me to admit it, I think she is going to be fine."

Thor's eyes widened at the revelation, "Truly my friend? She is unharmed?"

"Yeah. According to her and Bruce."

"So she is also awake?"

"Yeap."

Thor stood up and paced a little next to Loki contemplating the new information. It made Thor very uncomfortable to know that the woman was completely unscathed. Not that he had wished that she was, absolutely not, but he knew Loki had no fondness for the humans, so why was she unharmed and his brother so severally wounded?

"This news gives me great unease my friend." Thor confessed, running his hand through his long blonde hair like he always did when he felt discomfort.

"Not alone there buddy." Tony added crossing his arms.

"Well, it appears we both share the same problem. I assume you wish to question my brother on the matter of your Lady Potts." Tony just nodded in agreement.

"I too would like to question him, but in this state, he is incapable to answer us." Thor explained in that morbid Thor tone whenever he discussed his brother. Tony wasn't sure if Thor had already attempted waking Loki, or he just assumed since the guy pretty much looked like a corpse.

"So, are you just going to stay here and wait for him to heal then?" Tony enquired, taking a glance at his surrounding and grimacing.

Thor sighed, "I dare not risk moving elsewhere in case my brother is recognised and apprehended. I would not trust anyone else to oversee his recovery and I will not be vetoed from being by his side."

Then an idea settled on Tony, and every fibre in his being was screaming at him, telling him he was the most stupidest person on the planet for even thinking it. He felt even more moronic since he was now seriously considering offering it. But Pepper's question kept repeating in his head, "Then why am I alive?", and if he wanted the answer then he would have to ensure he was present when Loki was well enough to talk.

"Then bring him to Stark Tower. We'll keep it off the record. Keep SHIELD in the dark as well." So stupid Tony! He swore at himself, let's bring Loki in the vicinity of Pepper again, because that worked out great the last time!

Thor instantly looked across at Tony in utter disbelief.

"You would offer such a thing," Thor uttered, "to someone who has brought you nothing but misfortune."

Tony snorted, "Firstly, misfortune happens when you have bad luck, what Loki does on the other hand is throw my life into absolute fucking turmoil. Secondly, I'm not offering for him, I am offering it for you, since you two are inseparable. You are still my friend Thor. You just have really bad luck when it comes to your family."

Thor breathed in relief, almost like he had just been released from a dark shadow that had been looming over him. "I feared you would no longer consider yourself my ally after what my brother had wrought upon you. You astound me with your valour, Anthony Stark, that you offer aid to the brother of your enemy who has brought nothing but harm to you, your world, and your Lady Potts."

Tony was a little taken back by the compliment, but modesty just wasn't in his nature.

"Yeah, I am a hero among men." He joked. Well, almost. He was pretty amazing.

"But I am not carrying him back." Thor smiled at his friend's remark, giving the Man of Iron a friendly nod.

"You're insane!" Bruce shouted.

"Actually, I'm rich. So I believe the correct term is eccentric." Tony mocked.

Presently, Tony was directing Thor holding a motionless Loki to the elevator. Bruce had joined them from Tony's bedroom after being informed by JARVIS that Tony had returned, and he wasn't alone. Pepper remained in Tony's room as requested by JARVIS who advised that Tony had insisted.

"This is dangerous Tony, too dangerous." Bruce continued, but Tony had made up his mind and wasn't going to budge on the issue.

"Everything I do is dangerous Banner, otherwise think how boring life would be." Tony now had taken down his Iron Man mask and was giving Bruce a mischievous smile.

Bruce gave Tony an expression of annoyance. "Tony! For once in your life stop making jokes."

"Alright, look. We have questions, Loki has answers. And I'm not about to have Thor stay in an abandoned warehouse while we wait for brother dearest to recover enough to provide them." Tony explained, leading Thor into the elevator, Bruce joining them.

"Plus," he continued, "I am taking precautions."

"Such as..." Bruce pestered crossing his arms waiting for the brilliant (sarcasm) mind of Stark to explain what 'precautions' could possibly be enough to protect them from the likes of Loki.

"We'll put him inside your containment area. I'll just add one of the portable beds from the labs and a chair for Thor. "

"And what if I need it Tony?" Bruce stated in that annoyed tone Bruce had when Tony was doing something reckless.

"Well, and would you please stop saying my name over and over, we'll have to make sure you don't then won't we.

Bruce shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was a horrible idea. And to keep SHIELD in the dark as well. This was not going to end well.

It didn't take long before Thor and Loki were set up inside Bruce's, or more specifically his alter-ego's, containment area. It was constructed in line with the same specifications as the one by SHIELD on the helicarrier in one of the spare labs of the Tower. It was just for worst case scenario situations, plus it comforted Bruce to know that he had a solution for a worst case scenario, which made him more confident to stay in Stark Tower. Tony hoped this wouldn't mean Bruce was going to leave him alone with Thor and Loki, he liked the idea of back up. Despite agreeing to house Loki temporarily, he wasn't ignorant to the threat he posed.

Tony programmed JARVIS' protocols that Thor was free to enter and leave the containment, so all Thor had to do was request release. Loki however, was not under any circumstances to be let out. So if JARVIS even sensed Loki was awake, the door was to remain locked, even to Thor. Tony asked Thor if he knew what they meant, if he understood that should Loki wake up and threaten Thor, he would be stuck in there with his brother. Thor acknowledged this, and confirmed that it was a risk he was willing to take.

One the gods were settled, Bruce suggested Loki be given a change of clothes since the ones he currently had on were covered in blood. Thor made a comment that Norse gods do not experience infection like that of a human, to which Bruce simply countered that he only made the suggestion on behalf of the smell. Thor then agreed and Bruce supplied him with the loose green medical garments one wore before an operation in a hospital (not the one piece, but the pants and shirt. No one wanted to see Loki's bare arse if he attempted to make a run for it!)

Other events elsewhere included Pepper agreeing to steer clear of the containment area after Tony chucked a hissy fit when she asked to see Loki. She also reluctantly agreed to stay in the Tower for the time being as her sudden return would prompt too many questions, especially from SHIELD who would immediately investigate. Tony couldn't risk exposing Loki to them being in his present extremely vulnerable state. Thor would declare war if SHIELD prevented him from being at his brother's side, or decided it would be better for earth if Loki did not recover, and Tony would not get his answers. Everybody loses.

Pepper was beside herself that she had to hold off telling all her loved ones that she was alright, but Tony promised it should only be a couple more days. How long could a god possibly take to heal? After all, he had seen Thor take a stab wound like it was a paper cut.

It was three days of Thor leaving Loki's side only once to quickly shove a fair amount of food down his throat before Tony decided he should go have a word with their resident thunder god. He knew Thor was not sure how long it would take Loki to heal, but he was an impatient man, and at least if he knew how long it might take it he would stop pestering JARVIS for updates only to be disappointed again and again that Loki was still lying motionless in the containment area, Thor at his side, with yellow glowing rocks on top of him.

Plus, Pepper had insisted he get a time frame since Tony promised she would only have be in hiding for a couple of days.

"I cannot provide with any certainty how long it may take Loki to heal." Thor admitted sombrely. "Loki has never been injured to this extent before. The wounds are starting to coagulate but I do not know the extent of his internal injuries." To this Tony noticed that indeed, the wounds looked a thousand times better than had three days ago, skin began to cover what was once gaping and bleeding gashes across Loki's face, but he still started to pace nervously.

Tony knew he couldn't keep up hiding the truth of Pepper's return from SHIELD for too much longer. Steve had already called to check in on him and he was worried that the Captain may have suspected something when he made a joke about Steve's constant concern made him the father he never had, and in fact he was actually old enough to be the great grandfather he never had. Tony hadn't made a single joke while Pepper was missing, and this sudden change in conversational content gave way to an awkward silence over the phone until Tony abruptly ended the phone call with, "Sorry, work to do. Gotta go."

Thor sat back in his standard Stark RnD lab metal chair, tilting his head up at the dome ceiling of the containment, his eyes closed and in thought.

"In fact," Thor began and Tony noticed a small crack of a smile on the side of his face, "a part from the beating Banner thrashed upon him," Tony couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the memory, "the only other time Loki revealed to be in utter agony was the time he challenged Logi the fire giant to an eating contest. Logi beat Loki, eating everything including the wooden trencher where the meat was placed." Thor snickered to himself as he reminisced, "Loki was so full he said his stomach was going to give way. He couldn't move for days afterwards! Like a pregnant mare ready to give birth."

Thor continued to laugh heartily and Tony couldn't help but cough a few himself, not at the story, but at watching Thor's reaction to the fond memory of his brother.

In their moment of distraction, no one noticed Loki's eyes twitch painfully, but the area went dead quiet when he groaned.

Two sets of eyes stared in wide surprise as Loki coughed out, albeit painfully, "I must be in Helheim, and you two are my eternal punishment."

A/N

HELLO READERS!

I promised this chapter wouldn't take long, and I think I am quite proud at the turn around time for this one.

Also, please don't condemn me on my lack of medical knowledge and whether Bruce would have shot pepper with adrenaline, just go with it!

In case anyone is wondering, the Logi story is from the canon myths, but obviously, I adjusted a little so that Loki only had stomach aches. I am not planning on putting in the stories of his children, just so it's in line with the movies. Also, Helheim (Aka Hel) is as close to Hell as I could get in Norse mythology.

Please review if you like, or didn't! All comments are very much appreciated.

Until next time...