A/N: OK guys, bit of a warning...Clint's an asshole in this chapter – like a real douche. Then there are feels and there is angst. But there's some sweetness to lighten the dark. Hope you likey ;) Oh, and as per usual, there is much swearing.

"Good to see you Coulson," Tony grinned, putting out a hand to shake that of the Alpha agent.

"Wish I could say the same," Coulson scented the air. "Well," he sighed, "I guess you weren't mistaken about Loki being an Omega – this whole place reeks of heat hormones."

"Did you think I was that stupid?" Tony asked, motioning Phil ahead of him into the bar area.

"Doesn't mean he hasn't synthesised Omega scent," Phil pointed out as Tony mixed him a drink.

"Are you hearing yourself right now?" Tony said.

"It's possible Stark," Coulson was all business, "I wouldn't put anything past Loki. I'll have to see him, you know. To report to Fury."

"And you will," Tony sighed heavily, "just...once I've given him a heads-up," he sipped his drink, "...he's...more than a little fragile right now."

"Fragile?" Phil laughed.

Tony uttered a small growl from the back of his throat, "You don't know Phil," he warned, "you haven't met this Loki – you only know the suppressed Loki... This is...this is the real Loki...or at least," he looked into his glass, "...what's left of the real Loki."

Clint had slipped off when Coulson and Tony went to the bar for their Alpha-chat. He'd made an excuse about wanting to see what state his suite was in. Maybe they'd bought it, maybe they hadn't. As long as he was done by the time Natasha got suspicious – she'd be the first one to realise, no contest – then all would be plain sailing.

Loki. They were harbouring fucking Loki – the guy who'd twisted Clint's brains inside out and made him help with the whole tesseract-and-take-over-the-world shit. Had they all lost their ever-loving minds? No way was Loki on the level. It was Loki.

"Wakey wakey," a voice said. A hand shook his shoulder.

Loki opened his eyes. He jumped, startled at how close Agent Barton's face was to his own. He opened his mouth, but a hand came up to cover it.

"Uh-uh," Barton said, "me and you are gonna have a little chat. If you scream I can put an arrow through you before anyone even knows you're in trouble. Understand?"

Loki nodded and Barton moved his hand, still standing over where Loki lay on the bed. Loki breathed in big lungfuls of air, trying to calm his beating heart. Fear spiked through him – he was vulnerable here, alone with this man, without Tony. Oh Norns, how he wanted Tony.

"What the fuck are you doing here Loki?" Clint Barton. Ever the subtle one.

"I was trying to find Thor. I needed protection while in heat Agent Barton."

Clint snorted, "Yeh, right. What've you got planned?"

"Nothing."

Clint grabbed him by his pyjama-shirt, "Look Loki," he hissed, "whatever shit you're planning stops now. You may have Stark and the others eating out of your fucked-up hands, but you don't fool me. I remember what you did."

"Agent Barton," Loki whispered, trying to stamp down on his fear, "I have nothing planned. Please, please let me go."

"I'm really tempted to just kill you right now – save the world a hell of a lot of your bullshit."

"Please Agent," Loki murmured, eyes wide, "just let me go."

Loki's fear and exhaustion was spiking through him in short, breathless, waves; he wanted to scream for Tony, but calling for help would mean death. Then he'd never see Tony again.

"Are you fucking crying? You really are a pathetic bastard, you know that?"

What shocked Loki the most about the punch was its randomness. There'd been no warning, just a fist connecting painfully with his skull, sending a starburst of agony along his nerves. He cried out, earning another punch. And then it was raining blows, one after another along the entire upper half of his body. He cried freely, curling in on himself. It felt like the world had narrowed down until it was just this room, this pain – then it blurred in his brain, merging with another room, another pain, another set of blows raining down on him...

"FATHER!" he howled, "PLEASE STOP!"

Someone was talking and there were noises and had the punches stopped? He didn't know because the pain was still there, still coarsing as if he was being beaten over and over again. Lots of noises now. Shouting. Yelling. And he hoped it had stopped - he hoped it had stopped and the world would just be the dark and the damp and the cell - and that this was the last - this was the last time Odin would come in - because he'd rather die; he'd rather die, he'd rather die... Don't come back, please don't come back, he'd rather die, he wanted to die, why wouldn't he die?

"Shhh, Loki, baby please look at me, look at me baby, I've got you."

There were arms around him, warm and tender. Alpha scent calmed his heart's butterfly-wing beat. Alpha? Odin?

"Please, please no. Please father no – no more, please," he begged, his voice strangled,"I'd rather die, I'd rather die, father please, no more, I'd rather die..."

"I say we honour his wishes," a cruel voice, causing a shiver to ripple through the Omega's form.

"Get him the fuck out of here," an Alpha Command. "Clint – get out. I will kill you, so help me but I will. Every single fucking part of me wants to tear you apart right now. Widow, get him OUT OF HERE."

Alpha anger permeated the room, prompting Loki into another round of terrified sobbing, "I'M SORRY!" he screamed wildly, "DON'T HURT ME! PLEASE! I'M SORRY FATHER!"

"Shhhh, baby, baby it's OK, it's OK, it's Tony. It's OK Loki, come back to me. I got you baby, look at me, please look at me," warm hands, gently brushing along his body, assessing his injuries, "Loki it's Tony. It's me Lokes," Alpha hormones, soothing, reassuring, "I've got you baby. I've got you. Please open your eyes baby."

Were his eyes closed? When had his eyes closed? He willed them open, finding himself looking up into Tony's face, his body held gently in the Alpha's arms.

Loki's lips bubbled into a shaky smile, "Tony," he murmured weakly. "Don't cry, you're making your goatee wet."

Tony chuckled gently, tears still falling down his face, "That's ok," he said, "I've got you baby, you're safe now."

Loki smiled, dozing against Tony's chest, "You came for me," he whispered fuzzily, "I thought I would never see you again."

Tony held him tightly, rocking him gently and crying into his lover's feathery hair.

"Did you know Barton was going to do that?" he asked Coulson, surveying the agent across the guest suite's kitchen table, trying to keep his voice low so as not to wake Loki from his sleep in the bedroom.

"No," Phil answered immediately, "definitely not. I told Fury it was a risk to send him, but we both hoped that he could stay professional," he shook his head in disappointment. "I'll make sure that whatever's left of him after Romanoff's done goes to a shrink."

"Or I could rip his fucking head off," Tony muttered darkly.

"I'm afraid that would be too much paperwork," Coulson replied, "I'm sorry Tony, but, as disappointing, and out-of-order, as Agent Barton's behaviour was, it was understandable given his feelings towards Loki. I'm not condoning what he did," Phil said, putting a hand up to forestall Tony's interruption, "I'm just saying that there were reasons – and that I'm sure he'll come around...that is, if you're willing to show him the same courtesy as you've shown Loki and give him another chance."

Tony sighed heavily, "Ask me when I'm feeling a little less homicidal towards him," he said, drumming his fingers against the table.

Coulson nodded, "Understood," he replied, "How's Loki?"

Tony ran a hand through his hair, "Physically, he's gonna hurt like hell for a while but Jarvis ran some scans and says he'll be fine. Emotionally..."

"I heard him," Coulson said quietly, "screaming for his father to stop while we were restraining Barton."

Tony nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"You're in love with him," Coulson said. It wasn't a question, but Tony nodded anyway, "He's in love with you too," Phil told him, "and it's not going to be easy for either of you, but he needs you Tony, needs you to be the strong Alpha so that he can try to sort his head out."

Tony nodded again, "I think I need him too," he murmured, looking down at the table, "I need him to just be Loki – my Loki: a sweet Omega who's strong enough to just keep going no matter the shit that's thrown at him. He's this beautiful person Phil, who got so covered in other people's crap that it's all anyone else could see when they looked at him. But...if I'd been through what he has..." Tony trailed off, shaking his head.

Loki's hands were curled into his teddy bear's fur, gently clenching and unclenching. He lay on Tony's chest, Tony's strong arm around him. The other Alpha – Phil – was sitting in the armchair across the room, watching bridal shows with them. Tony had said Phil needed to watch them for a while for a report. Loki said it was fine as long as he left if they needed to...couple. Phil had found that hilarious, and Loki decided he kind of liked him. He thought maybe he'd met this Son of Cole before, but he couldn't remember, wasn't sure he wanted to remember.

"That veil would look better with diamante," Tony said.

Loki nodded, but said nothing. He knew Tony was worried at how quiet he was being, but he was just too tired to talk much. Tony ran fingers through Loki's hair and the Omega sighed happily, his body responding contentedly to the Alpha's affection.

"Tony?"

"Yeh Lokes?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being here for me. I...I think I might love you."

Tony smiled, "That's ok baby," he said, "I think I love you too."