Per Steve's request, they were to leave via Quinjet; which meant an uncomfortable period of wait Loki did not appreciate. Clint had promised to make it quick but time seemed to drag on eternally in the drab apartment.

As they waited, Loki took it upon himself to speak to Barnes. Steve seemed to have frozen up and had scarcely spoken a word after Barnes's agreement and there was only so long he could take the stuffy silence. Striding up to Barnes, who had been silently gathering bits and trinkets since he had agreed to go, Loki made his presence known with a short cough.

Barnes looked up, there was curiosity in his dark eyes. "You. How'd you do that?"

"I need specifics. I do a great deal of things." Loki smirked, delighting at the bluntness of the question. If this was how the Midgardian was to approach things perhaps Loki could make this work.

Seeming briefly surprised by Loki's casual tone, Barnes frowned. Though Loki saw his shoulders relax ever so slightly. "You were the woman."

"Indeed." Loki watched Barnes look him over doubtfully. He could feel Steve's gaze on his back as well. "I assume you are curious as to how?"

Barnes nodded, giving up what he was doing entirely and devoting his full attention to Loki. "I know you're… not from Earth, you or him." He jerked his head towards Thor, who was busy reading some of the newspapers stuck to the wall.

"Oh good, I do not have to explain that part. To put it simply, I work a series of incredibly complex algorithms in a very short span of time and that allows me to enact my will as I please. Or as you could call it: magic."

"Magic." Barnes sighed. "Magic aliens… alright. That might top the list of weird things that I've learned."

Glancing over to Thor, Loki smirked. "Or you could call it science. Some Midgardians like that better." He got no response from Barnes, who appeared to be busying himself packing.

As Barnes fell quiet again, obviously done talking for the time being, Loki took his cue to move away and back towards his brother. When he did he saw Steve fix him with a cautious look.

The way Steve acted around Barnes did not inspire confidence in Loki. Before Barnes had been found, Loki had held out hopes that Steve could see his old friend as is. But the pained plea Steve had given and the way he looked at Barnes had dashed that hope. It was clear that Steve had staked his heart into getting his friend back to something recognizable. It was a noble idea, one that Loki should have predicted. But no matter how Steve would try, Loki knew Barnes could never really be the way Steve wanted.

Some changes no one can come back from, truly. He knew that well enough.

Loki glanced to his brother, then to Steve. With a scowl, he resigned himself to the difficulty that lay ahead.

A firm hand on his shoulder jolted him from his stormy thoughts and Loki looked to Thor, who gave him a strained smile. Returning the smile, Loki let some of the tension drop from his posture.

00000

Jarvis's voice roused Tony from his concentration. "Sir, the Quinjet has returned."

"I couldn't care less." Tony snapped. He tried to focus back in on his readings, something about some technological feats by some twenty-somethings. But the words, he couldn't seem to focus on them. There was a sick feeling in his stomach; one that had been there since he had retreated to his room hours ago after Clint left. He closed his eyes, attempting to shake the feeling.

He saw his father, his mother.

Tony's eyes snapped open and he let out a hissing breath. He shifted in his seat and, again, tried to focus on the article. The words had no meaning to him.

His stomach turned itself inside out.

There was a half finished bottle of liquor on his desk. He considered if that would fix it.

A voice spoke from behind him. "How long could it possibly take you to read one page?" It was Loki's voice.

Tony jumped and spun. The Trickster leaned against a bookshelf, his green eyes glittering. Tony scowled. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not that long."

"You do know it's creepy to watch someone like that?" Tony stood, setting down the fruitless read. He did not approach the god; his head joined his stomach in aching protest.

"I specialize in that." Loki walked towards him. At first glance he looked as relaxed as ever but Tony saw the rigidness of his features, how his smile didn't reach his eyes, how tight his shoulders were. The god's eyes did not leave Tony's. "It's good to see you." There was an unspoken "sober" Tony knew was missing from the end of that statement.

"Is it?" His words felt like bile, he couldn't stop his bitter tone. The longer he looked at Loki the sicker he felt.

Loki seemed unphased. "Very much so." He lingered a few paces from Tony and his voice grew soft as he spoke again. "Tony, perhaps you should-"

"Don't." Tony turned away, ill. He closed his eyes; he saw his parents again. Taking a shuddering breath he forced himself to keep his back to Loki.

There was something impossibly tender about Loki's voice. Tony couldn't remember the last time he had heard Loki sound like that. "I cannot apologize. You knew this day would come. I merely did as I said I would."

"Why- why did you have to be the one, though? Why couldn't you let someone else find- find him?" Tony glared at the ground, he turned but couldn't bring himself to look at Loki. He saw Loki's boots inch closer to him and snapped. "Don't."

His words stopped Loki's approach instantly. When the god spoke his voice was barely audible. "Perhaps you should call Pepper."

His stomach ached, the room spun. For a brief moment he was able to look Loki in the face again. There was something raw about the god's expression, sorrow clear in his eyes. Tony couldn't hold his gaze and glared at his chest. "Go to Hell." He turned again, wishing to be as far from Loki as he could.

There was no response and when he finally looked back Loki was gone.

Tony sat alone, nauseous, in silence. It wasn't long before his phone was ringing. He didn't pick up.

Pepper left a voicemail, her tone similarly soft as Loki's had been. "Tony, I'm going to fly up there tonight. I won't be able to stay more than a day but I want to at least talk to you in person. Don't do… anything stupid without me there. Okay, Tony? I'll talk to you soon."

00000

Appearing in his room, Loki took a moment to attempt to compose himself.

He expected Tony to be angry, Tony had every right to be. But Loki had not expected it to strike him so deeply. Loki had, in Tony's mind, betrayed something between them. A small part of him leapt to blame others; blame Tony for overreacting, blame Steve for wanting Barnes back, blame Barnes for killing the Starks.

Clenching a fist, Loki heard something shatter as it was thrown across the room.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed down the desire to lay blame. It got him nothing but heartache in the past and it would do the same now. Yet there were so few foreseeable options out of this mess that did not end poorly.

Steve would be of no help; he would not be able to talk to Tony either. The was to fix this was through Barnes. But Loki doubted Barnes's ability to say anything that could help yet, he was simply too far removed from what was happening amongst the rest of the team.

"If I get through to Barnes I can use him to defuse both of them before this explodes in everyone's faces." Loki smiled tiredly, the idea sounded so simple. He quietly congratulated himself for making his impression on Barnes. That would likely be invaluable. He had, at the very least, left the door open for Barnes to see him as a confidant; it had been clear Barnes appreciated how unintimidated Loki had appeared in speaking with him. Loki could only hope that interaction plus natural curiosity would be enough to draw the Midgardian in.

But even if he got into Barnes's head, Loki would need Tony to talk to him again. Hopefully Pepper would help him with that but he wasn't sure even she could convince Tony to speak to him again anytime soon.

Something ached deep in Loki's chest as he stared out at the city.

Tony needed time to simmer but Loki needed to fix what he'd broken before it was too late. Driving Tony further away was currently his greatest worry.

Laughing slightly, Loki murmured into his empty room. "By some strange twist of fate I am the one trying to keep them from falling into chaos." How he was supposed to do that alone, however, he knew not.

Remembering Thor's expression in Barnes's apartment, Loki realized perhaps he wouldn't have to. He was not the only one this situation felt eerily similar to, after all.

AN: Shorter chapter! I'm keeping on schedule.