According to Jarvis, Loki hadn't returned to the tower since he had left sixty nine and a half hours ago. Tony was playing in his lab but every so often he would ask Jarvis if Loki had returned. The answer was always no.

It wasn't like this was the longest time Loki had spent out of the tower but he had been getting more consistent. Even if he came back for an hour or so, he came back.

Tony put down the welding torch. After a quick trip to grab his wallet, non grease covered shirt, and baseball hat, Tony was on his way to Tea and Potions. When he got there the lights were off. From the window he could see that the whole place was clean, undisturbed. But it was nine in the morning. The store should have been packed or at the very least it should have been open.

Leeman turned the corner and saw that the shop was still closed. To the man in front he said, "It's been closed for two days now. Loki must have cleaned up after I left but I haven't seen him since. I hope he's alright." He was in front of the store by the time he finished.

"Who-"

"My name's Leeman," he holds out a hand for Tony to shake, "And you're Tony. Loki seems to like you even though the thought of the Avengers gets his head spinning."

Shaking Leeman's hand Tony wasn't sure what to say, "You-"

Leeman gave a little smile. "Oh don't you fret I'm not gonna throw a fit about you or file a complaint about him. It's not like he's spilled all his secrets but it sounds like Loki's been through hell for quite some time now. He's not a bad kid, not really."

Letting out a chuckle Tony said, "You know he's not a kid right."

Shrugging, Leeman said, "I assume you don't know where he is considering you're here. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with anything but on the day before Loki closed up a man gave him a hard time. Loki had a panic attack. A real bad one. It was some pompous ass in a suit named Vincent...I ran after him. I can't remember exactly what I said other then he should apologize. And now Loki's missing. I just hope Loki's alright." Leeman ignored anything that Tony might have said instead he turned and walked away.

Loki had finished cleaning up Tea and Potions quicker than expected but he didn't want to leave. So instead he went back into the kitchen. He baked his way through the night. As the sun rose he pulled out a batch of oatmeal peanut butter cookies from the oven. Someone knocked on the front door with an urgency that seemed to shake the entire building.

Vincent was back and looked like he was ready to break down the door. Instead of letting that happen Loki walked as calmly as he could and unlocked it. Upon opening it he poked his head out and asked, "What do you want?"

Loki was forced to back up when Vincent entered the shop, "You said last night you didn't mean for so many to be hurt and die. You said you were punished." Loki took a few steps back and raised his hands in a placating gesture.

Standing in the middle of Tea and Potions Vincent continued, "You act like my Mom used to. You can't look people in the eye, constantly shaking, struggling to take a breath that's PTSD right there. Or anxiety or some other mental thing." Vincent walked closer and closer till Loki was pressed against the wall. "Look at me."

The wall was smooth against Loki's trembling hands. His eyes jumped from point to point, never looking at one thing for too long. After a few moments he forced himself to look up.

"What do you think I'll do to you?" Vincent backed up. "Sure I wanna kill you for what you did but I'm not stupid enough to try. Besides, SHIELD wants you alive. I'd lose my job if they ever found out it was my fault. So, what do you think I'll do."

Looking back down Loki said, "Death isn't the worst thing that can happen."

Vincent smiled. Without turning his back on Loki he went to the door and turned the knob which locked the deadbolt into place. The smile fell and he said, "You're damn right."