It was another beautiful July afternoon. The sun blared out over the city, so inviting for people to take advantage of the pools, beaches, just all-around summer fun.

But Tony hated it so much...because he was not there with him to enjoy it. He just had to leave on a top-secret-only-he-and-Fury-can-know-for-everyone's-safety-mission that made his blood boil. He tried to get JARVIS to find out, but apparently, this was so bad that Captain America, the golden boy of said country, could not even have a highly-undetectable tracker on him so Tony would not have to worry so much.

A lot had gone wrong this summer. Everyone was gone, leaving Tony alone to wallow in his own misery, and so he fixed this by hiding down in his lab, where he could wear himself to the point of passing out, only to wake up crying until he falls asleep again. The bags under his eyes, the jeans barely able to hang around thinning waistline...JARVIS tried everything to take care of him.

He just needed him to come back home now because he missed him.

Tony did not put much thought into the fact that the lights did not come on as he descended down the stairs to his favorite spot in the Tower. Stats of last time's progress and to-do lists did not show up on the screens like they always did either. Even Dummy did not come to say hello to distract him from the mess the little bugger always managed to make.

He shivered, feeling extremely cold all of a sudden.

"JARVIS?"

Turning slowly around, Tony looked terrified for a second.

Thor was not entirely surprised, per se, but he was just not expecting this to happen now. He was kind of busy trying to fix the huge mess his brother had caused. Staring him in the face, he saw nothing but calculating determination, which scared Thor because he knew how cunning he could be. And when he set his mind to something, even Thor had a hard time stopping him.

"Loki? What is going on, I-" A piercing pain shot through his nerves, causing him to wince. Thor felt dizzy, and looked to Loki, who was just out of his reach all of a sudden, for support.

"Sorry, brother." The God of Mischief spat.

Thor did not recall what happened next, but before he drifted, he prayed for his brother to find his way back to who he used to be.

Loki entered his sanctuary, his place that not even his own mother knew about. This was where he could truly be with himself, where no one could hurt him. He started making it when he was younger, since he hated always being made fun of by his brother and his friends. And the way Father was always disappointed in him. He needed somewhere to call his own.

But it was lonely.

Loki sighed, remembering how many hours he spent practicing his spells Mother used to teach him. He would not emerge back home until he had mastered it, as he never wanted to disappoint her. It did worry her, though, as mothers do when their children disappear for so long. Try as she might, she was never able to quite pinpoint the location of his "safe space"...which was the whole idea.

The golden architecture detailed certain accomplishments of his life he was proud of, for instance, his first successful hunt, battle, spell cast, etc. Each year, Loki kept adding more intimate details, so he could always reminisce on the days where life was much simpler...before he found out he was a cursed abomination.

His lineage tore him apart. Up until recently, he always just assumed he was an Asgardian, not the magnificent type that deserved all of the glory and praise, since his strength lied within his mind and magic...no, he was weak. He was hideous. Underneath his mask hid his true face, the face of a monster.

And yet, his family took such pity on him, bringing him up in this lie, and even after continuing to lie that they still loved him.

He laughed.

Loki sat himself down, and tried to relax. He closed his eyes, beginning to meditate, the Mind Stone next to him gleaming with malice. He was shocked no one had figured out yet that the staff that was supposedly confiscated from him in New York was a fake copy. People are just as dumb as he initially believed. Loki thought back to that time in Midgard, and the hate inside him grew even more. His sight zoned in on one person in particular who continued to mock him, and never took him seriously.

Fists clenched, his spine went ram-rod straight.

Anthony Edward Stark. Why do you mock me? You have no idea what I am capable of.

Loki cleared his mind, concentrating on nothing but this man. This one man. He could feel the fear in this human, and Loki loved it. He pressed his own mind into that of Stark's. Opening his eyes, he walked through the memories of the Iron Man.

"Oh, Anthony...you are a troubled one, aren't you?" Loki watched a bit uneasily as he saw Tony being tortured, being operated upon with no relief, since he was awake for every second, until he passed out from the pain at the very end. Loki's eyes widened as he saw the thing that had stopped him from taking over his mind during their battle.

"What a strange contraption..." Loki wondered if he still had a heart underneath. "My dear...you have been through so much..." Loki's own heart seemed to mourn for the troubles this man had gone through.

The Mind Stone suggested he call out to him.

Anthony...

Tony panicked. His phone was dead, would not charge or anything. He stared at it for a while, swearing he could hear this voice calling to him.

"God, I really need to stop drinking and get some sleep." Tony looked around and saw a dim light.

A miracle.

"Oh, baby..." Tony was so relieved. He stepped into the suit, thankful it was unplugged so it was not affected by the rest of the Tower.

The armor flickered to life, and before it was completely rebooted, Tony took a step forward. Everything quickly went dark, and he face-planted into the ground.

"JARVIS? Where are you, buddy?"

He lay there for a second, then, with all of what was left of his strength, pushed himself over.

"Ugh!" Breathing heavily, he found it easier when there was actual air to use, so he ripped the face mask off, throwing it to the side lazily. The emergency ejection came shortly after, and Tony sat up, relieved to not feel so trapped in the dark, even though he was still seemingly trapped in the Tower...in the dark.

"Anthony..."

Chills went down his spine again, as Tony jerked his head around to find Loki in all of his shining glory.

"Reindeer Games?" Tony laughed, but backed away from the god walking towards him. The golden glow around him seemed to be calming in a sense, but Tony was still nervous. He could feel something grabbing hold of him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Loki, back in his sanctuary, concentrated even harder, as he opened his eyes. Darkness began to surround him, transporting him to the Tower in front of the lonely Avenger.

"Just wanted to have a drink..." Loki innocently smiled. The golden figure of himself disappeared.

Tony stared at him. For a moment, he recalled him offering said drink and almost giving it to him after the Hulk slammed him into next season. Maybe that would have been too inappropriate at the time, but now...

"Sure." Tony flicked his hand in a motion to invite Loki forward, but was caught off guard by a bright light that knocked him out cold.