The next day was the first day Tony had a visitor. It was Steve.
"The team heard about the accident." The super soldier said the minute he walked in. Tony opened an eye, watching Steve as he placed the flowers he gripped stiffly in his hand on the nightstand next to him. Steve looked up at the machine, his eyes swimming with shock. "Oh Tony…" Was all he could say as he stared at the machine beeping away the heartbeats in Tony's chest.
"Does it really look that bad?" He joked, sitting up in the hospital bed, wincing at the pain it brought him. Steve didn't say anything, but watched his friend turn to face him. "You look like shit, Stark!" Steve blurted, his eyebrows furrowing. "I'm so…angry. The accident was all over the news! How could you be so reckless?"
Tony winced. God he was just like doctor Loki, lecturing him when he didn't have a right to. Speaking of the demi God…where was he? Surely Steve would have run into him in the hallway…Something wasn't right.
"Where's your doctor?" Steve questioned, looking around the room in slight curiosity. "I kind of want to know how you're doing." Tony felt a lump rise in his throat. Steve would probably respond differently to a highly ranked criminal tending to his dear friend.
"I –uh." Tony began to explain, but before he could get a few words out, a woman dressed in a simple doctor's coat with scrubs underneath walked in, her long black hair tied back in a ponytail and her eyes glowing green behind glasses. "I have surgery planned for noon, Mr. Stark." She paused, catching Steve's eye. Her eyebrows furrowed.
"I forgot you had a visitor." She responded.
Wait who the hell was this?
Steve smiled politely, although his hands clenched at his sides. "Are you his doctor?" Tony was shaking his head, but the woman nodded curtly. "Yes I'm Doctor Spring. Is there anything I could help you with?" Tony opened his mouth to protest, but Dr. Spring shot him a glance that got him to stop. Her eyes were green, just like Loki's eyes, and they were…glimmering in mischief.
Okay. Got the clue.
"I just wanted to know how this dumbass is doing." Steve laughed heartedly, and the doctor blinked and cocked an eyebrow before going to her(his?) clipboard. "He has a couple or so weeks to heal, as I can guess by my diagnosis." She cutely pushed her glasses further up her nose and coughed. "He actually has a surgery today at noon."
"For what, if you don't mind me asking?"
She pointed at Tony, her eyes practically smiling. "He shattered his arc reactor, and we plan to fix it."
Steve, being as oblivious as he normally was, nodded, "So how long could the surgery take? Because he's expected to get more…visitors." Tony narrowed his eyes. Perfect.
"A couple of hours…Mr. Rogers." She replied. A moment passed of complete, awkward silence before Doctor (Loki)Spring nodded curtly, "I will come and get you in a few minutes, Stark." And left hastily.
"Who was she?" Steve asked, almost breathlessly, and Tony cocked his eyebrow and stared at Steve for a long moment. "Apparently she was my doctor." Steve looked over at his friend, "She wasn't that bad to look at, actually. Let's hope Pepper doesn't see her."
Tony bit his tongue. "Hoping with all of my might, Capp." Steve coughed momentarily and patted Tony's shoulder. "I wish ya luck, man, with your surgery." They both looked at each other, and Steve momentarily snapped his gaze to the heart monitor in worry. "Dude, don't worry I'm going to be fine. As long as this thing is running, I'll be okay. And honestly, the sooner this surgery is started and finished the better, I'm sick of that beeping sound. It's about as bad as Natasha's whining."
Steve chuckled for a moment, his smiling lighting up just like it always did when they would argue about silly and absurd things. As the soldier got up to leave, Tony coughed shortly, grabbing his attention. "Make sure the guys visit me, alright? It gets lonely here."
Steve chuckled again, "I wouldn't be that lonely with a Doctor like that." He replied. They both smiled at each other, and Steve left.
A couple minutes later, Doctor Spring entered, her plump lips curved up in a wicked smile. She pushed her black ponytail back from her shoulder as she came over by Tony's nightstand, grabbing the flowers and putting them into a case of water. "I really had him going." She said, smoothly, darkly, before her body morphed quickly back into Loki.
"Holy shit." Was all Tony could say as he watched the woman morph back into the doctor he had from the start. "How?"
"Simple: magic, Stark. I don't plan on meeting up with Captain Humorless there."
"Hey, the man has a good sense of humor, Loki. He sure had one today."
"Hmmm, and I wonder why that was." Loki purred, his green eyes shining mischievously. Tony ignored the comment. "So I'm ready for surgery."
Loki cocked an eyebrow, his eyes glimmering to a serious tone and his mouth moving into a thin line. "It's risky business we're dealing with here, Man of Iron. I hope you know this."
Tony gulped loudly, fidgeting underneath the hospital sheets. "How risky?"
"Let's just say, one little slip in this surgery could kill you, Stark. Which honestly, a villain like me would be thrilled to have that chance but…as much as I hate to admit it, and this is the Lie smith, here, you've grown on me for the short time I've had to tolerate you."
Tony smirked at that, despite the silent mental breakdown he was having inside his head. It was difficult to charm a psychotic, emotionally deprived demi God. Tony deserved a fucking award for this. Maybe the award would be not to die by the end of this week.
"So," Loki began, slipping over to Tony's IV, "you're ready? Splendid, we should get started." Tony watched as a needle poked into the IV bag, and suddenly felt exhausted. Nurses started to appear through the door as they helped him onto a moving bed, and he slipped into darkness as they reeled him down the hallway.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Loki stood grimly to the side, his gloves removed and his hands firmly grasped onto the broken arc reactor. "Rupert, get the supplies, and don't fucking hesitate with them this time. This is a serious surgery and every second counts." Loki snapped to a nurse. The man nodded hastily and shuffled across the floor, grabbing the supply tray and setting it down next to Tony's sleeping body. Nurses hussled around him as he focused his energy into his hands, sending energy into Tony's heart.
God-damnit he could feel the shrapnel in his fingertips, inching toward Tony's precious heart, trying to dig their sharp edges into the ventricles. Another doctor, two more, joined him at the operating table, their hands scrubbed and ready for procedure. Loki felt his eyebrow twitch. "So you have the prototype ready?" Loki hissed through his mask.
"Yes, he has many in his office. We were able to get one, and now all we need is to remove them. This could take a while, the arc reactor is shattered, and they could be possibly killing him." Loki felt his heart lurch in his chest. "Then let's get started." He responded.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
There was a lot of pain when Tony woke up. He felt like he was asleep for mere seconds. He only knew it had been days when no light shone through the open window. It was morning before operation. He sighed and looked around the nicely lit room.
Wait.
The lights weren't on…then…
He looked down at his chest, and to his utter surprise found a brand new arc reactor glowing brightly in his chest. "Wh—…Jesus Christ. I missed you."
The door opened, and yellow light flooded through, almost frightening Tony from his stunned state. "LOKI! You…you did it!" Tony exclaimed, a smile plastered on his tired and worn face.
Loki's face was grim, his smile nowhere to be found. Well, this wasn't surprising but…Tony honestly thought the God of Mischief would be relieved to know his surgery was a success. "Loki…what happened." Tony wondered, more of a statement then a question.
His doctor looked up at Tony, and slowly made his way around to the chair next to his bed, only to collapse in it. Tony got one look at his doctor before he said, "Holy shit Loki you look…terrible."
"Thank you." Loki hissed, his eyes narrowing, the bags under his eyes seeming to grow the more he glared. "It's alright though. Although I almost killed myself in there…the surgery worked. You lived, I successfully completed a surgery."
"You almost…d—." Tony began.
"I fed my magic into you like a fucking water fountain, Tony. I was scared shitless thinking it wasn't enough to keep you stable through the surgery, so I put in more than you needed, and it practically killed me…" Loki tired looked down at his hands, watching as a faint, very distant blue glow shimmered from his fingertips, and then quickly die out. He sighed long and hard.
"You…were scared? About me?" Tony asked his eyes wider than saucers.
"Shut up, idiot, I didn't mean it like that. You know what I meant."
"Seems the little demi God has some soft feelings! Never knew that. I'll keep that in mind!" Tony laughed tiredly, smiling when he got shot a glare from him.
"You're an idiot."
"And you're in denial." Tony responded, feeling suddenly 10 years younger.
The older man sighed, gritting his teeth and rubbing his temples. "You're not worth arguing, Man of Iron."
"Just means I won." Tony responded under his breath.
He suddenly felt the man's form very close to his, and when he turned over to Loki's general direction, he was practically nose to nose with him. "Sometimes I wonder why I agreed to be a doctor. I hate dealing with people. Especially the idiots that act like you." He hissed.
Tony felt his body get hot, and his cheeks flushed red. His eyes shortly looked down to gaze at Loki's lips, which were drawn back in sneer. His voice was a whisper now, "And you certainly don't know how to deal with physically injured people either."
Loki's cheeks flushed red as well, and he pulled back quickly, straightening his coat. "A nurse will be here shortly with some food, Stark. Just…just shut up and watch some TV or something." Loki tossed the man the remote, and left before saying another word.
Was it just him or…did they have a moment right there? Tony chewed on his lip a moment before turning on the TV and flipping through the channels. Why was he wondering? It wasn't something to ponder about…besides…he didn't…he didn't like men like that. At all…
Tony was brought food later on during the day. It was brought to him by another nurse he's never met before with short brown hair that was choppy and cut at her shoulders. "Doctor Laufeyson told me to give you a light meal today." She stated curtly, sitting the tray in Tony's lap and moving the remote to his grasp. On the tray was half an apple, mashed potatoes, a carton of juice, and some chicken strips or something over the potatoes. "I'm in a hospital on a high school." He mumbled to himself. The nurse laughed for a moment and turned on the TV for him. "You have more visitors, Mr. Stark."
She left quickly, leaving the door open as Tony cocked an eyebrow and shoved his mouth full of mashed potatoes and chicken. Steve was back, along with Natasha, Clint, and Bruce. "Oh, what Meat head couldn't visit me today?" Tony asked, chuckling. Thor had been residing in the Stark tower lately, spending less and less time in Asgarde, or with his mortal girlfriend.
"He went to Jane's." Clint responded, pulling up a chair next to Stark and laying his feet on the bed. "Cartoons? What are we twelve?" Tony snorted through his food, downing the juice in two gulps. "What? Looney Tunes are a kid's medicine, and it seems to be cheering me up right now, unlike you." Steve chuckled, and Bruce uncomfortably shifted from foot to foot, staring at the dead machine next to Tony's bed.
"Hey! Your arc reactor! It's fixed!" Steve exclaimed, clapping his hand on Tony's shoulders. The sheer force of his movement caused Tony to flinch and wince, and the Captain removed his hand, sheepishly grinning. Bruce narrowed his eyes, thinking thoughtfully for a long moment. "How were they able to get the arc reactor working? Isn't it like a…complicated machine?"
Silence gripped the hospital room, and Tony sat up in the bed, trying his best to think of a reply to that wonderment. "Maybe uh…maybe my doctor is just another genius. They probably put a battery in it for all I could know." He laughed, tapping the arc reactor with his left hand, the only one that was able to function without intense pain now.
Bruce's grim expression slowly morphed into one of joy, and he laughed along with the others in the room. Clint clicked his tongue a moment. "So Capp tells me you have a smokin' hot doctor. Where is she? I wanna take a look at her." He said, getting a smack in the arm from Natasha.
Tony felt his throat go dry. Did…did Loki know there were visitors in his room? His skin went very pale, paler than it already was, and he eyes flickered to the door. The door was slightly open, but he could spot Loki coming toward it, a hand outstretched to pull it open. He paused when he saw the others in the room, his fingers about touching the doorknob. In a split second, he had changed back to his other form, the female doctor Steve had met.
Tony's heart thudded in his chest, and he awkwardly smiled as…Female Loki entered. She set her clipboard on the bed post near his feet and checked her watch. "Little late for visitors, isn't it Stark?" She joked, a smile breaking out on her red lips.
Clint cocked an eyebrow at the doctor, standing up from the chair he was lounging in. Female Loki smiled warmly at the visitors, but her eyes shone in hostility. "You must be the little group Stark keeps telling me about." She politely said, outstretching her hand to Natasha. Black Widow grabbed it, shook it, and she went around the group like that.
"Stark, eat more of your food." Female Loki commanded, furrowing her eyebrows at Tony as he picked at what remained of his food. Steve laughed heartedly for a moment. "Wow and I thought it was Pepper's job to treat you like a toddler, Tony!" Tony saw Female Loki's lips purse in annoyance as she scribbled something down on her keyboard before coming over to Tony's bedside. "Chin up." She stated, almost coldly.
Tony obliged, lifting his chin only to have a flashlight beam into his eyes. He blinked, groaning in distaste. "Well, good to know you're responsive. The drugs are wearing off from the surgery. Finally." She said, flicking the flashlight off and stuffing it into her pocket and letting his head drop back down. He blinked a moment and Bruce awkwardly shifted from foot to foot. "Well," He began, looking over at Steve, "we'll go and tell Pepper you're getting better. And tell Nick you probably need a leave of absence for a while."
Tony smiled at him, nodding and saying goodbye to all of his friends before the left, closing the door behind them.
Loki collapsed in a chair, running her fingers through her hair a moment before turning back into the doctor Tony had before. "I'm getting real sick of being her. Believe me." He muttered.
"Why do you even disguise yourself? Why not just come in as yourself?"
Loki scoffed, leaning forward in his chair, "Ah I suppose you want to see me getting beaten to death by your team? Man I really thought you were intelligent."
Tony rolled his eyes in response. "Come on, think man. They're very intelligent creatures. Don't you think they would wonder why you're a doctor, and then come to the conclusion that you're saving my life? Come on. Think about it, Doctor. They wouldn't exactly break out into character just then. They've got sense."
The God chewed on his thumb a moment, his eyes moving around to look at something other than his patient. "I- Well. I don't know. I guess you make sense."
"Of course I do. Now, go be a dear and get me some more juice? I'm rather thirsty." Tony gave one of his cocky smiles as Loki glared at him. "Whatever you say, Stark." He stated. He made his way out of the room, his scrubs pants swishing loudly in the still air. Tony caught himself staring at Loki as he left. He blinked, coughing momentarily.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The next week was a long and aggravating week. No one else visited him that week, which Tony took to heart, and Loki had to humor him with his own company and kind nature. Loki wasn't going to lie, he was enjoying spending time with this blundering idiot…this beautiful intelligent idiot, but he wasn't going to let anyone know that.
Yes. He did have feelings for the billionaire, but he didn't want to. Gods, he was a banished criminal who almost killed Stark in the great battle of Manhattan! Like Stark even shared the same thoughts as him. And even if he did…
No he wasn't going to think about it. Stark was a patient. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less. Although Loki was very concerned about Stark's current condition, he was also worried about himself. He prescribed himself with depression medication, and instead of fixing his current depression mood swings, they only made him worse. He honestly tried with all of his might to not lash out at Stark whenever he was present around him.
Although, he did have to leave for a number of occasions to go to the bathroom, where he kicked, beat on things, screamed into his hands and cried. He didn't understand why…but he just needed to. He should really get off those pills.
A week had only gone by, and while Loki had scheduled Stark to get out of bed for rehabilitation the following week, Stark was already whining about getting out of bed to move around. Of course, Loki agreed with the playboy, but the annoying whines really didn't help. They grated on his nerves a lot.
"Alright, Stark, if you're so ecstatic about getting back on your feet, why don't you get up and demonstrate for me how wonderful you are!" Loki joked, motioning toward the space in the room. Tony's face immediately drained off all pride and color. "I uh…right now?"
Loki smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "Yes, right now! Why, regretting your words?"
Tony responded just how Loki wanted him. He angrily threw back the sheets, letting his feet get some air. He gripped the chair next to his bed as he shakily got to his feet. Yes, there was some searing pain as his weight was put on his feet, but he grit his teeth, flashed Loki a pained smiled, and started to shuffle along the floor.
It didn't go over well, because he was crumpling to the floor the minute he took a step.
Warm arms went around him as he was helped back onto his feet. Tony groaned in pain, and shuddered violently against Loki as he was placed back on the edge of the bed.
"I'm sorry," Loki stated, his voice so husky he could pull a sled (Tony laughed at the observation). "you were not ready to walk and I deliberately got you to do it." Tony felt Loki's hands on his shoulders, and could feel the God's breath running down his neck, which sent shivers.
"It's fine, doc." Tony said, shaking off his hands gently.
"Get back in bed, Stark. You look sick." Loki said, his eyes filled with worry.
"Doc, if you didn't know before, but this is just my face. I always look sick." Tony joked reluctantly getting back in bed and slipping the covers back on. Loki's eyebrows furrowed on his face. "Stark, you know me by now, and your Midgardian sense of humor does not affect me like others."
Stark chuckled, and rolled his eyes. Getting the God to laugh was a lost cause by now, but surprisingly he wanted to keep trying to get the raven-haired man to chuckle, in the least. Loki rolled his eyes at Tony, and checked his watch. "Do your legs hurt?"
"You mean more they already constantly do?" Stark replied rather smart-alecky. Loki furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his jaw. Without commenting, he placed a hand firmly on Tony's reply, nodding when the man hitched in his breath in pain at the contact. "Well that's not good."
Loki pulled back the blanket. He firmly grasped Tony's ankle, pressing the other hand gently against his knee. Blue magic emanated from his palm, and Tony felt a cooling sensation as the magic passed through him and soaked into his bones, and with a gasp of air he felt the pain leave his body.
"What was that?" He gasped when Loki removed his hand. His doctor stared down at his leg a moment before looking up. "The tendons in your leg didn't properly heal…I fixed it." He stated. Stark blinked a few times, before the right words came to mind. "If you're able to music magic, and if you just magically healed my ripped tendon, why didn't you use magic on me in the past? I would have been out of here by now!"
Silence filled the air.
A look of frustration flushed over Loki's face before he replied. "I believe mortals should be cured with mortal medicine."
Stark sat up more in the bed, slipping his leg back underneath the covers. "Then why did you use your weird…voodoo magic on me?" He watched Loki closely as his doctor's eyes flickered with momentary fear. "Sometimes I forget my own principles, is all." He quickly turned away from his patient and headed for the door.
"Wait…Loki." Tony called back. His doctor paused at the door. So many things burned at the back of Tony's throat. There was so much that he wanted to say, but he almost…couldn't bring himself to do it. Finally, he couldn't hold it in, and he almost blurted it out loudly. "How much do you care for me?"
Loki paused at the door, and turned slightly at his words. "You are my patient. I care about my patients."
"Yes, I get that, but…what more than that?" He asked, his fists clenching the sheets. There was a reason he was using his magic on him, I mean Loki practically injured himself trying to save his own life…he didn't understand what was happening.
Loki paused in the doorway, half of his body already moving into the hallway. "I don't…understand?" He asked, his voice quavering at the end, as if he was afraid to even ask. God damnit why couldn't he find the right words? "Never mind…I forgot what I was going to say…take care, Doc." He settled with that. Yea, that was a better response.
A look came over Loki's face, a look that Tony couldn't shake off. His eyes swam with…something that ripped through Stark. It looked like…pain. A deep, heartfelt pain. He couldn't exactly understand why the look was there…but…he almost wanted to cry. "You are a good man, Mr. Stark." He stated. And with that, he left.