Chapter 8 – Lost and Found

Loki returned to his apartment after long day of dealing with humans, and locked his door with a visible sigh of relief. He shed his winter wear all over the chair in the front hall, moving straight for the kitchen where he could make himself a cup of the peppermint hot chocolate Tony had given him.

He'd barely moved a few feet when he froze, every single one of his senses stretching out, alarm bells ringing in his thoughts. He changed directions, heading for his bedroom instead, making another version of himself continue walking towards the kitchen. He moved in absolute silence, listening to the crash as something tried to attack the illusion of himself. He dashed into his room, going straight for his closet and pushing shirts and jackets aside to find the back wall. With a wave of his hand, a panel appeared and he opened it, pulling out a long blade the length of his forearm. He gripped it carefully, with the ease of someone who'd had much practice wielding such a blade, and moved back towards the bedroom door. He could now hear the other creature breathing; the sound skittering along his spine. He shook the feeling off with a roll of his shoulders, but then froze again when the intruder spoke.

"Loki Laufeyson. We have found you."

Loki froze, a cold sweat breaking out along his skin. He closed his eyes against the fear. He wasn't someone who was used to feeling it, or ever wanted to be used to feeling it again.

"You can't take me back there." he replied, stepping into the doorway to face the creature in his darkest nightmares.

It was crouched in the middle of his living room but stood easily on two legs, stretching eight feet tall, covered from head to toe in scale-like skin the colour of sand. It's eyes were bright, luminescent blue and it's entire body covered in thick, rope-like muscles. It wore the battle armour of the Chitauri, the race ruled by the Other, the one who had found him when he'd left Asgard. The plates of silver metal-like material covered most of its from its shoulders to its knees, but its arms were left bare, and its clawed lizard-like feet bare as well.

"I have been sent to take you back, and punish you for escaping." It said and Loki tensed for a fight.

"I will not go back." Loki said in a steely voice and the creature laughed, it's voice the sound of rocks grating against each other.

"You speak as if you have a choice god-ling."

In an instant Loki was on the move, streaking towards the door and the most pleasant escape. He didn't make it though, the creature catching him before he could get past, claws slicing through fabric and muscle to latch on to his shoulder and bring Loki towards him. Loki gritted his teeth, twisting in the creatures grasp, slicing upwards towards the claws caught in his shoulder with his blade and gaining a minor hit, but the thing released him before he did much damage and Loki slipped out of reach. He glanced at his shoulder, grimacing at the blood trickling down.

"You cannot beat me god-ling." it said, as if meaning he should give up now, but Loki only gave a cold, emotionless smile.

"You forget who you're talking to."

The creature gave another laugh and at lightning speed launched itself towards Loki. Loki ducked and dodged, but he and the creature both gained hits, and Loki was tiring. It had been years since he'd dealt with any sort of fight where his opponent was at least his equal, and he knew he couldn't last much longer. The creature was between him and the door so he knew he couldn't make it that way, and he was torn up from the fight. His coat was within reach and he snatched at it, throwing it behind him and then jumping towards the creature. He stepped in close, blade at hand, and surprised the creature who'd been expecting a defensive opponent. He managed to get under the creatures defence and with a single thrust shoved his blade beneath the creatures ribs. The creature let out a low, rumbling growl, and Loki left his blade lodged in the creature as he turned and darted towards the window, catching up his coat as he ran, and jumping, hunching his shoulders protectively, and crashing through the glass. His apartment was fourteen stories up and he plummeted through the air, twisting to put his feet underneath him. He landed among a shower of glass and stood swiftly, wrapping his coat around him. He felt a wave of dizziness but kept walking, knowing he had to get out of the area and leave his apartment behind. He patted down the pockets of his jacket, relieved to find wallet and phone, and continued on his way. People didn't look at him any more than usual, though he could feel the sting of at least a few cuts on his face, so he could assume they weren't too bad. He slipped into the lively evening crowd of New York city and let himself disappear.

An hour later Loki felt sufficiently lost from his pursuer, but he was barely able to stay on his feet. He found himself in front of Stark Tower even as his conscious thoughts seem to spin out of control, and he wondered briefly why he was here. The answer was simple; when in trouble, you go to where you feel safe. He touched his hand to the panel that instantly scanned his palm, waiting as it made the buzzer in Tony's apartment go off. A moment later, Tony's face appeared on the screen.

"Loki? The doors unlocked." Loki leaned his head against the door, knowing if he tried to move much farther he would drop, let out a pained laugh.

"Would you be a dear and come down?"

There wasn't a response, and moments later the door opened and Tony appeared.

"Loki-" he stepped outside in time to see Loki push off the wall.

"I didn't know where else to go," he said softly stepping into the light, and Tony found himself gaping.

"What happened to you?" Tony demanded, sounding both distressed and angry, and Loki closed his eyes, a small smile playing at his lips.

"I ran into a very unsavoury character." Loki responded, before swaying on his feet. Tony jumped forward to catch him as he fell, hooking an arm around Loki's waist, pulling his arm across his shoulders so he could support him properly.

"Tell me he looks worse." Tony said darkly as he helped Loki inside, and Loki gave a cold, sharp smile.

"He looks much worse."

Tony nodded, expression grim, helping Loki into the elevator, glaring at the doors as they closed. They rode up in silence and when they reached the top Loki stumbled further. Tony tightened his grip, his glare becoming murderous as he carefully brought Loki to his room, opening the door and pushing the other man gently to the bed. Tony helped him remove his coat, noticing the glass that fell from the material, sucking in a breath at the long cuts covering his chest, his shirt in tatters.

"What the hell, Loki." he nearly growled, and Loki just closed his eyes.

"I can explain," he said weakly, bracing his hands on either side of him, and Tony watched the last of the colour drain from his face right before he slumped, unconscious. Tony eased him back onto the bed, and called for Pepper who appeared moments later, first aid kit in hand. She handed it to him, looking down at the marks that covered Loki's skin.

"It looks like he ran into some sort of wild animal. What happened to him?" she asked, and Tony just glared at the bloody injuries, pulling both cleaning solution and bandaging out of the kit.

"I'll find out."

Pepper stayed a moment and then left Tony alone in the room, his anger slowly turned to worry. The fact that Loki had come here meant that his apartment probably wasn't safe. Standing, he went to the door, calling Pepper back.

"I'm going to go see what I can find out before he wakes up. Stay with him. Call me if he wakes up." she nodded and went inside even as he left, moving straight towards the stairs and towards his iron man suit.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., time to go."

Soaring over New York, Tony headed towards Loki's apartment, watching the world through the computerized eyes of the iron man suit. He reached the building and then had the vision zoom on the window, seeing what he'd feared. The window was completely shattered. He flew closer, landing inside the apartment, taking in the appearance. The room was in disarray, furniture overturned and shattered. It looked like whoever had been after Loki had tossed the apartment as well – unless this is where they'd fought. He glanced again at the window, realizing that the glass had broken outwards and leaned down to see the pieces of glass littering the sidewalk. Loki had had glass in his hair, and stuck in his coat, but the idea of him having broken the window was impossible. He wouldn't have been able to survive the fall. He looked around again, moving through the other rooms, noticing how neat and tidy they were in comparison to this room, and noticed the closet was wide open, clothes pushed aside, a panel visible in the back. He moved towards it, reaching inside and pulling out the contents. There was a blade – long and silver, probably about the length of Loki's forearm, and then a clothing box. He lifted the lid to find a green cloak sitting on top and closed the lid again. He didn't want to judge without knowing the story. On the top shelf of the closet was a large suitcase and he went around the bedroom, dumping drawers in and pulling the contents off the hangers, pushing them in as well. Then he put the box and blade on top, tossing the last few possibly useful things into the case before closing it. He glanced around the room one last time and found his gaze falling on the bedside table. The snow globe he'd given Loki for Christmas was sitting there. His chest tightened and he moved to pick it up, adding it to the suitcase. Then he walked back towards the window, pausing only when he noticed the blood on the ground, that wasn't actually blood. It was black instead of red and he bent down, touching it with the tip of his finger.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., take a sample. What is it?"

"Results are inconclusive sir. No similar substance is registered on earth."

"Alien then."

"That is a possibility sir."

"Check the S.H.E.I.L.D. databases."

"Right away sir."

He walked back towards the window and shot back into the air, flying back to Stark tower. When he got back to Loki, he was still asleep, and Tony set the suitcase down beside the bed, sitting next to him again. Unable to resist anymore, he reached out and brushed a hand over the bandages covering the other mans chest.

"I won't bite you for making contact." Loki said softly, and Tony stiffened before moving closer.

"What happened to you?" Tony asked softly, fingers brushing along the bandages, and Loki reached up to link their fingers.

"It's hard to explain." he murmured, and Tony tightened his grip on Loki's hand.

"I'll do my best to keep up."

Loki sighed. "I'm sorry Tony, but I'm not the simple man you met in the café."