A/N: Yeah, this chapter happened.

I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, Thor, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head.


Tony opened his eyes and blinked rapidly. He was surrounded by darkness, by nothing, if he were to be honest with himself. He wasn't in the suit anymore, just in a t-shirt and some jeans, and it almost felt like he was falling. "Loki?' Tony called out, turning his head. "Hey, look, if you can hear me you should come on out. I better not be dead!" Tony sighed a little. "Naiden is gonna kill me."

There was a shift and Tony blinked when he moved. He looked around and saw something else, no, someone else, in green and black leathers. "Loki!" Tony turned and reached out his arm. The man didn't move and Tony moved his arms and legs, trying to get closer. There was a flash of light and Tony suddenly tumbled forward to the ground.

He pushed himself up and froze as his hands met dirt, wet dirt. Scrambling up Tony quickly wiped the blood soaked sand from his hands. He looked around and saw Loki, he was fighting with his staff, but there was someone else there. He watched as Loki took down his opponent then turn as the man behind him was suddenly struck down. Loki snarled and threw a spell at the other threat, one of anger and frustration, one that killed instantly. He glanced down at the body of who Tony assumed was a previous partner, then started to limp away as the Yar guards came to collect him.

"Sonofabitch," Tony mumbled, running a hand through his hair. These were Loki's memories. Tony ignored the fact that the dirt, sand, and blood was still on his hands and pants. That would make it too real.

The scene changed and he saw Loki sitting on a bed, but in a lavish bedroom, not the cell they had together. There were books open all over the bed, some had dropped to the floor, and Loki was rubbing his temples, murmuring under his breath. Tony took a step forward and Loki's head shot up to look at him. He could see something shift in his eyes, some emotions.

"Loki?" Tony asked softly.

"This isn't right," Loki said as he stretched his legs to move from the bed. He stood up, ignoring the books on the ground. He walked up to Tony and let his hand hover just above Tony's face. "You shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here." He turned away just as quickly and Tony blinked. "None of this is right." He waved a hand and all the books suddenly closed. "I already know all of this, this is a repeat, one long repeat, something I've already done."

"Are you okay?" Tony frowned a little. He'd never heard Loki talk that fast and disjointed before. Sure, Tony talked like that sometimes, but that was when he was unable to get at his lab, or get the ideas in his head out.

Loki turned around suddenly and put a hand out. "You're real, you shouldn't be real. No one else is ever allowed to come here." Loki shook his head and his amour suddenly changed. Loki looked younger, his hair was shorter but still slicked back, and he wore a more casual outfit. "This isn't happening in the correct order. This shouldn't be happening. You shouldn't be here." He looked up at Tony. "But, I can't make you leave. I want to leave," he looked away again.

"Okay, this is gonna stop." Tony walked over and took Loki's arm.

"No!" There was a flash and Tony blinked and his arm dropped, Loki no longer in front of him. He turned around and blinked, seeing the familiar cell, Loki sitting on the bed, his legs crossed, staring straight ahead. The bars dropped and Tony watched as one guard came in and took Loki's arm. He was pulled up and Loki made no move to break away.

Tony followed behind them as Loki walked down the hall with the Yar. It didn't sit right with him that Loki made no attempt to break away, that he kept his head tilted towards the ground. Tony's stomach dropped when he knew where they were going. He had walked the exact same route numerous times before. This was where it all went to hell.

Loki was pushed into a dark room, one that Tony was all too familiar with. "You seemed to have changed, sorcerer," a low voice echoed through the room. Tony turned, trying to find which direction Thanos was speaking from. "I can help you, help your broken mind."

"This should not be happening," Loki murmured. "It is not right, this is not right."

"I can help make it right," this time Thanos spoke up louder. Tony looked up and saw his glowing eyes. "I can repair your mind." The titan moved closer and Loki lifted his head. "I can make it whole, I can give you what will repair you. All I need is one thing from you."

Tony surged forward and grabbed Loki's hand suddenly and the scene in front of them changed again. Loki took several deep breaths before he turned to look at Tony. Tony blinked when there was a chill around them and looked down when something blue seemed to spread from Loki's hands. He tried to pull away but Tony just gripped his hand tighter. As tight as he could before the numbness start to set in.

Tony and Loki jerked suddenly and there was a crack in the darkness around them. "If you let go, I'll just grab your other hand," Tony warned him, not sure if it was Loki who had caused it. They were jerked again and Tony used him arm to pull Loki closer.

"If I don't let go then I'll hurt you," Loki told him as the blue traveled up, his eyes starting to change.

Tony could see the beginning of frostbite starting to set in but looked back up at Loki. "I don't care," he pulled Loki closer to his chest as the crack started to grow. "I'd rather go through any kind of pain then let you go. Not again, Loki. I'm Tony goddamned Stark, I get what I want." The corner of his mouth lifted up as the two stared at each other. Tony shivered a little and looked down to see that ice had started to creep up his arm, encasing their hands together. "That's more like it."


"Can we hit it? Can it break?" Clint watched the ice around the Tony and Loki's hands.

"Not without harming them both," Thor informed them.

"I'll go get a blow torch, or hair dryer, or something," Natasha said as she practically ran from the room.

Naiden had stepped through the door from the stairs quietly and saw the four gathered around something. He had deemed it safe to go up when he saw several dozen SHIELD agents go up, then coming back down 20 minutes later in the elevator.

As he got closer he was able to peek between Bruce and Steve and saw the frozen hands. "No." He raced forward and was grabbed by Steve suddenly. He tried to struggle out of his grip, needing to get to Tony and Loki. He frowned when he saw that Loki had turned blue and Tony's hand was turning darker, almost black with frostbite.

"Naiden," Bruce spoke softly but he just shook his head.

"Let me go, I need to get to them," he never took his eyes away from the two on the floor still. "I can't lose them, I won't lose them, not again!" Steve blinked and Naiden found his opening and pushed away from the group. Thor and Clint reached out quickly to grab him, Clint just gripping the edge of his shirt but they couldn't stop him.

Naiden grabbed Tony's hand then grabbed Loki's blue hand. His own hand started to glow and Loki's hand was his normal Asgardian pale. He sat on his legs between the two men, not letting go of their hands, not hearing what anyone else said around him. He could feel that they were still alive, that they were still there. Naiden wouldn't leave their side, just like they had never left his.

Naiden's glamour that hid his elven heritage broke; Thor seemed to be the only one not puzzled by what they were looking at. He didn't look much different but they noticed his ears were different, and he seemed to carry a different sort of air about him. Steve was starting to wonder just what else the trio had gone through before.

"What are we missing?" Bruce was the first to ask as he watched them.

"There's a history," Clint murmured and a few eyes looked back towards him. "Loki never let it slip though, not once." He looked up at the others watching him. "I saw them though, I saw Stark fighting with him. Yeah, there's a history there, and it must be a pretty deep one. I've only ever seen a handful of people fight the way they did, and for that long."

"He has certainly changed from when I last saw him," Thor spoke up this time. "I do not know what they have gone through, but I fear what it has done to him."

Steve cleared his throat a little and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I know," he said tentatively. "At least I know what Tony told us, Fury and myself. Tony's a great actor," he sighed out before he started to tell them.


Tony had pulled up his knees to his chest, wrapping his free arm around his legs as he tried to hide most of his shivering. "Tony," Loki breathed out and Tony turned his head. "You must let go."

"No," Tony shook his head quickly. "I don't care if I have to lose my whole arm, I'm not letting go." He looked at their hands and saw that frostbite had started to creep past his wrist. He didn't need to feel his hand to feel the comfort in knowing that it had a hold of Loki's hand. "This is what we should have done years ago, I won't let that happen again. If I have to stay here in- Holy shit."

Loki blinked then followed Tony's eyes to look at his own free arm. It was starting to pale again. "This is not my magic."

"It's elven magic," they both turned at the familiar voice, but didn't see anyone. "You're both crazy if you think I'm joining you in this fever dream."

"You're as crazy as us," Tony shot back, trying to keep his voice from chattering. "Naiden, where the hell are you?"

"Back in the penthouse, trying to save your sorry asses," he shot back. "You two have more problems than a serial killer, and I have half a mind to let you stay here until you two work it out, but we don't have the time."

"Is it Thanos?" Loki asked quickly.

"No, he's blissfully unconscious in SHIELD's company now," Naiden relayed back. "I'm talking about the ice you're spreading." Both men raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you're doing here, you're doing it in reality too."

Tony felt a tug on his arm and turned his head to look at Loki. "Don't you dare let go," Tony moved closer to the god. "I don't care what's happening, I'm going to-"

"Drive yourselves crazy," Naiden cut in. "If you two would just come on out of this then I'm sure everything would be alright."

"You haven't seen it here," Tony pulled Loki closer, wrapping his other arm around the man tightly. Loki tensed at first then leaned into Tony suddenly. This is what he had been missing, what he hadn't known that he had needed.

"I fear that I have traveled down a path vanishing," Loki murmured. "The further I travel, the more I lose myself."

"You need to quit speaking in riddles," Tony smirked slightly. He watched as the blue started to disappear from Loki's skin. "But, I suppose if you did that, you wouldn't be the same man that I knew."

Loki dropped his head against Tony's neck and closed his eyes. This was his Tony, this was the man that had fought for his life, one of the reasons that he would give his sanity willingly to protect. "I am sorry, for what I had caused, for what I've done."

"I'm sure if you tell the others that, they'll listen," Naiden's voice perked up a little. "I'll give you two a few minutes, then I want you waking the hell up. There's a lot that needs to be done."

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here kid," Tony smiled against Loki's head. "We're trying to have grown up time here." They heard the faint sound of Naiden sticking his tongue out before he was gone. "Let's say we get rid of this ice, and we go somewhere that's tangible?"

"I think I would like that," Loki nodded slightly. "I think, though, that I'll have to use you and Naiden as my anchors until such a time that I have built back up my own mental defenses," Loki admitted. "I'm afraid that I let myself go too far. I have exhausted myself."

"You don't even have to ask," Tony whispered against Loki's cheek. He could feel the water from the melting ice on his leg, but paid no mind to it. He also tried to forget that he couldn't feel his hand or wrist. "We're never going to let you go again. It'll take an army to keep up apart." Loki smiled and leaned his forehead to Tony's. "Come on, let me show you something that's a million times better than that dirty cell of ours."

"We probably shouldn't have sex right away," Loki smirked as Tony grinned.

"No, but I like the way you think." Tony laughed a little.


Groaning, Tony blinked his eyes open slowly. Everything was blurry and he was aware of pain all over his body. He saw a figure in black above him and blinked some more. "Agent?" He swore he saw Coulson, but hadn't Fury said he was dead? "What the-"

"I wouldn't talk just yet, Stark," Coulson told him before standing back up. He was pulled up by a couple pair of hands and looked around. He was still in the penthouse in his tower, the place was still a mess, but Thanos and the Chitauri were still defeated.

"Tony!" Tony's head whipped around when he heard Naiden's voice. He saw the man disappear past the stairs entryway.

"What the-" He was then lifted to his feet and he could see other SHIELD Agents securing Loki's hands in shackles and placing a mouth guard on him. "Hey! Let him go!" He tried to pull away, but his muscles just reminded him of how weak he was.

"He's still a wanted criminal, Stark," Fury spoke up from Tony's side this time. "We're gonna have to debrief all of you, and take the three of you into custody until further measures can be reached."

"Further measures?" Tony seethed out as he watched them pick up Loki, dragging out of the room. "I told you everything! He's not a threat anymore, he helped!"

"We have to make sure," Fury said as they started to take Tony the same way. None of the other Avengers were in the room and he felt a stab of anger, and possibly betrayal. Loki had helped them all, he had helped save the world. He sagged a little in the grip of the Agents, dully noticing that he still couldn't feel his hand.

'I supposed SHIELD could count as a small army.'