Look! She lives! Still!

Actually, you guys are probably pretty used to this by now. And maybe, one day, I'll finish off Poison. This whole "transition to real life" thing is hard. Anywho, this wasn't actually the next oneshot I was planning on updating with, but I had sudden inspiration! I hope you enjoy some cute Loki/Tony and some poor, exhausted, befuddled team.

As always, read, review, and enjoy! :D

"Tony? Love?" Loki calls as he appears in Tony's lab. He's been gone for almost a week, hopping around the universe, checking on several less known worlds that he knows Thor never looks in on. Everything appears to be calm, and, after delivering his report to Thor, he slips in between the seams of the world to return to Midgard. The lab appears quiet, which is a good sign that Tony is not present.

"Mr. Stark is currently located in his room," Jarvis' voice says helpfully.

"Sleeping?" Loki asks skeptically.

"Attempting," Jarvis says.

"Of course. Thank you Jarvis," Loki says, before he moves himself from the lab to their room. Sure enough, Tony is sprawled over the bed, pillows thrown all over the bed and sheets crumpled up. "Tony?" he asks, moving closer to the bed.

"Mm," Tony mumbles and moves towards the edge of the bed that Loki approaches in a sleep-filled daze. His eyes remain decidedly shut, but Loki can tell Tony is stuck in a half-sleep state.

"How long this time?" Loki asks, resigned to his lover's fate of perpetual insomnia.

"Mm," Tony says with a half-hearted shrug. His hand snakes out and grabs Loki's wrist in a surprisingly tight grip before yanking the god onto the bed. Not expecting such strength, Loki falls face first onto the bed. The only reason Tony isn't crushed is because of Loki's unusual agility, so he manages to twist himself at the last second to fall beside Tony. Instantly, Tony is curling up around him, not even giving Loki a second to adjust his position. Tony's head comes to lay on Loki's chest, one arm thrown over his stomach, the other arm curling along his side. And just like that, Tony's asleep.

Loki spends the next few minutes in amused bemusement, staring at the sleeping man's head. Loki learned early on that once Tony fell asleep he rarely moved, only showing signs of life when nightmares hit or when he was starting to surface—either way, Tony always wakes a few minutes afterwards. When he finally recovers, he shifts ever so slightly, until he can also be just slightly more comfortable. He lets one arm move underneath Tony's head so that he can pull the man closer to him.

"Don't let anyone interrupt Jarvis," Loki instructs quietly.

"Of course Master Loki," Jarvis responds, but Loki is already asleep.

~o.0.o~

When he wakes up, he can tell that far more hours have passed than he intended to sleep through. Tony is still dead weight on his chest and will likely stay that way for another three hours at least, so Loki manages to quietly shift out from underneath him. He hadn't realized how much of a toll his travels had taken on him until Tony had pulled him onto the bed. The sleep helped, but now he requires food and drink.

He hadn't taken the time to see who was home when he first arrived, but he finds the rest of the team in the living room. Captain Rogers is sprawled lazily over the couch, while Dr. Banner is sitting in a chair, feet pulled up, a book on his lap. Natasha and Clint are both on one of the other couches, Natasha lying down with her head on Clint's lap. It looks like she's asleep until she cracks open one eye to stare at Loki.

"About damn time," Clint says, not looking up from the arrow's fletching that he's inspecting. Natasha groans and mumbles out something that sounds like "finally" before rolling completely onto her side and shutting her cracked eyelid. Loki raises an eyebrow at the other two occupants. Captain Rogers is stirring slowly on the couch, bringing lethargic and exhausted blue eyes up to meet Loki's look. Dr. Banner fingers a page in his book, closing the cover on the finger.

"There's food in the kitchen," he says, nodding his head towards the doorway. "Jarvis said you were here," he continues before Loki can ask. He should have guessed, but he's still getting used to his and Tony's new exposure. Loki retreats into the kitchen to plate some food—sandwiches and salad, which is plenty for him—and debates sitting in here alone to eat or facing the team. Curiosity gets the best of him.

Captain Rogers pulls his feet up when Loki walks back into the room and Loki accepts the seat. Loki studies them for a second while he allows his stomach to satisfy itself.

"I was not aware you were called out," he says. In truth, even if they were called out, he would have no way of knowing. Thor does not keep active track of the team when he is in Asgard and Loki went immediately to Tony upon arrival. But something about their body language tells him they've been at home.

"We haven't," Rogers says, his head leaning against the corner of the couch.

"Then you have all decided to become insomniacs?"

Natasha groans from her position on the couch. "Not by choice," Clint puts Natasha's groan into words. "I never thought I'd say this, but…you can't leave. Ever."

Loki is pretty sure he's still asleep. Even he, master of masks and disguises, can't hide his surprise at the words, but he's the only one in the room that's actually surprised. He's definitely missed something important.

"What Clint means," Dr. Banner interjects, "is that when you're here…Tony actually sleeps."

"How long did he remain awake while I was gone?" Loki asks hesitantly.

"How long were you gone?" Rogers asks.

"Five and a half days by your world's time."

"Then it's been six days since he last slept," Rogers says.

"It's been how long?"

"You know, Fury made us live together so we could get used to working with each other," Clint says. "And we've been learning all sorts of things about each other! Take Tony for instance. When he's on two days of no sleep, no problem. He hunkers down in his lab and leaves us in peace. When he's on day four, even he knows he needs to sleep, but he can't, so he makes the rest of us suffer!"

"He was in bed when I returned five hours ago. It appeared that he had been that way for a while," Loki protests. Tony has always had a strained relationship with sleep. He knows this. But six days?

"I drugged him," Natasha says mournfully. "With some of my strongest tranqs. And it barely even worked. He owes me new ones."

"Did you know that boyfriend is batshit insane?" Clint asks.

"He's not insane," Dr. Banner immediately defends. "He just runs on a different wavelength than us."

"Bruce, even I think he's insane," Natasha responds.

"We had lots of sleepless nights in the army," Rogers adds. "But six nights in a row is definitely insanity."

"Well then I guess we know I'm dating the right person, huh?" a sleepy voice says from the doorway. Loki looks up to see a sleep-befuddled Tony standing in the doorway, clearly intending to go back to bed since he's only wearing sweatpants. It's either a sign of how comfortable he is in the house or how sleepy he is that the arc reactor lays exposed in his chest. Even though Tony has literally just rolled from bed, his appearance still sends a shock of lust and happiness down Loki's spine.

"Go to bed Tony!" Natasha says, burying her head in Clint's lap.

"I plan on it," Tony says, "but I left something going in the lab-"

"Tony that was almost eight hours ago. Dummy, Jarvis, and I took care of it," Bruce says with a roll of his eyes.

Loki sets his plate down on table. "Come love. I too, require more rest. It appears that your team could do with some sleep as well. Perhaps it would be best to inform Director Fury that you are all off duty until further notice?"

Rogers opens his mouth, but Jarvis beats him to it. "I have already done so Master Loki. Director Fury asked me to inform the team that he will only give 24 hours and he cannot promise he will not call."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Bruce sighs and pulls his finger from the book. "I'm going to take the opportunity given."

"Me as well," Rogers says, sliding off the couch. It amuses Loki to see what a mess of arms and legs he is when he's this tired. At the same time, he wonders what Tony could have done to drive them all to this exhaustive standard.

"We're going to do the same," Clint says, setting his arrow aside. He goes to take his feet off the table, but Natasha's hand catches his calf and forces it to stay up. "Right here apparently," he says, resigning himself to his fate.

Loki looks back to see Tony staring at him. He looks lost in his own house and it takes a second for Loki to realize he's about to fall asleep standing up if he doesn't get him back to their room soon. He slides an arm around Tony's waist and leads the way. At this stage, Tony's more likely to walk down to the lab on autopilot and fall asleep next to an explosive.

Tony drops boneless into the bed as soon as they get back. Loki takes more time to arrange himself this time and Tony is willing to give him the time before taking his own position around the god.

"Why did you leave the bed, love?" Loki asks as he allows his fingers to comb through Tony's hair, trying to return some semblance of order to the tangled locks.

"Thought you were a dream," Tony mumbles into Loki's shoulder. The god tries not to feel guilty. He should have realized that Tony wouldn't have processed that he was really there.

"And why were you awake for six days? Even for you, that is a long time."

"Couldn't sleep. Too cold. Too hot."

Luckily, Loki is experienced in interpreting sleep-deprived Tony. The bed was cold without Loki, but his dreams were hot, dreams of a land filled with a scorching sun and shifting sands. Loki pulls him closer. "Go to sleep," he says, even as he begins to drift as well. Teleporting so much is catching up with him. "I'm home now."

Tony's only response is to snuggle in closer.