Jane yawned as she threw the final box to the back of her rented truck. It was a few hours before she left for New Mexico, looking around the empty garage, memories of her childhoods flooded back slowly, turning over each other as she was getting further and further in the past. A soft cough brought her out of her thoughts, she span around, looking through her windows of the jeep and smiling at the sight.
"You're a little late; I've finished packing so it looks like we can't do all the stuff I had planned." She skipped around the jeep, her smile falling when Loki made no sarcastic remark. "Hey, what's up with you?" Loki's eyes were red, and his skin was much paler than usual. She reached out to hold his arm but he flinched away from her touch. "Loki?" He fidgeted uncomfortably, before moving his arm from behind his back, revealing a florescent small flask, glowing emerald and orange strangely enough. Her eyes widened at the slight of the small jug, he held it out to her, a weak smile on his face.
"Consider it a goodbye present…" His voice was fragile and weak. Not wanting to upset him further she took it. She looked at the strange glowing bottle, finding no liquid from within. Carefully she took of the red ribbon, the top opened and a thick golden scent erupted from it. It filled her with warmth and comfort and soothed her down, she couldn't remember what stress felt like anymore as her brain become more numb as well as her body. She began to fight the change, but she felt more paralyzed as she tried to move. Suddenly Loki's hands covered hers, taking the bottle from her and resealing it. The bottle suddenly disappeared from her sight, bursting into light in Loki's hands. He leant forward, pressing himself to her ear and whispering, "Don't worry it will wear off into the night…" He placed his hands either side of her head, his thumbs tracing her temple as he muttered an unfamiliar language to her. Her eyes fluttered shut; under her closed eyelids he could see the lights of his magic flickering over her memory. He cleared his throat just before leaning back down closer to her ear. "…forget me, forget the boy Loki Smith and his relationship to you. Forget Tony Stark; remember him only as a student but nothing else. When you wake up you will go to New Mexico, attend the university and do what you have always wanted to do, astronomy. You will keep in contact with no one from New York." She slouched forward, collapsing slightly into his chest and her head fell onto his shoulder. He sighed, relief falling over him when suddenly a new thought came to mind. He picked her up bridal style, taking her into her house and laying her on the sofa. "…you are not the shy, out of order women you have been, you will respect yourself and not hide yourself behind humour or others ever again. You will not let men trample on you and you will not fall for their tricks." He kissed her forehead and finally she fully relaxed onto the chair, her soft breathing indicating her heavy sleep that would last a few hours. He moved the chestnut hair that had fallen into her eyes admiring her beauty on final time. "…I guess we'll never get to do that Rodeo." He smiled sadly.
Not to Loki's surprise, Obadiah was the one to answer the door. He grumbled at the sight of Loki, clutching his stomach from their previous encounter. He nodded to Obadiah and the man sighed.
"Tony's in his room; you know where that is." He walked away and Loki had to fight every cell in his body to strangle the man, Loki climbed the stairs quickly to Tony's room. He knocked on the black door softly but when no reply came he walked to the workshop instead, hearing soft hums erupting from the room. Surprisingly the door was left open, low hushed rock music coming from the stereo. He glanced inside the dark space, finding Tony's face lit by the medallion in the centre. His eyes were observing the circular object with great fascination. Loki cleared his throat, catching the brunette's attention. Tony looked a little different; his stubble was thicker but wild and untamed, a darker shade of brown compared to the hair on his head. Loki coughed softly, entering the room quickly. Tony looked up, his eyes shining with love. It killed Loki inside.
"Hey, how's Jane?" Loki shrugged, fidgeting his way into Tony's legs and wrapping his arms around Tony protectively. He nuzzled into Tony's neck, adoring his scent for what could be the final time. Tony chuckled softly, dropping his grip of the medallion and wrapping his arms around Loki's neck. "Was saying goodbye that bad?" He felt Tony's lips press against his cheek, the stubble warm against his flesh.
"You have no idea…" He lifted his head, meeting eyes with Tony. Loki loved him, he loved everything about him; his smile, his eyes, his snobby personality, he loves his hair that has a tendency to go from brown to black and how he can grow stubble in just a few hours. Loki loved his hands, the work of a creator and the tough skin of his palms. He loved how his fingertips where thick skinned where he attempted to learn guitar. He loved the way his olive skin made his seem paler and the same the other way round. He loved his deeper meaning and he loved that Tony loved him regardless of his many flaws. Tony shrugged, smiling and chuckling softly.
"Okay, you've been staring at me for three minutes now. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just…I love you." Tony blushed, his eyes falling slightly. "God I love you so much." he ran a hand through Tony's hair before pushing Tony forward and claiming his lips. His mouth was cold and soft under his, almost innocently. A moment after he buried his head back onto Tony's neck. He bit the bone sticking in his face, enjoying the taste of the flesh in his teeth. Once he was satisfied with the bruise he sucked onto him, he pecked the flesh softly. "…to bed?" Loki purred in response, licking a long stripe up the hollow of Tony's neck. "I'll take that as a yes." He jumped down grabbing Loki's hand and dragging him towards the doors.
Tony stretched his back as the morning sun burnt his eyes, he reached over his bed to grab Loki but his hand fell to the mattress instead of colliding with the cold body. He jumped up, looking around the room in confusion to his lost lover. His eyes fell to the dressed person at the foot of the bed. Loki's hair was slick back and ebony in the early morning, his face was cleanly shaven and his emerald eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were covered in tears making his pale skin blotched red. He had a plain but baggy black shirt on and a long, trench-like coat traveling down to his knees. He had a pair of skinny black jeans on and black boots to match; he defiantly wasn't wearing that last night. Tony tipped his head to the side, confused to say the least. Loki couldn't meet his eyes, and instead played with the lit cigarette in his left hand.
"Are we going to a funeral?" Tony joked but Loki seemed to ignore it. Instead he took a drag from the rollup, the end burning bright orange as he exhaled the smoke. Tony just noticed the tea cup sitting beside him on the bedside, he pointed to it. "Is that for me?" Loki paused, his hand stilling in motion as he looked over for a brief second. He nodded, swallowing nervously. Tony took the cup, looking at the contents before taking a large sip. It was strong yet sweet, sticking to his tongue but running down his throat softly, soothing his tired lungs from the previous night.
"I'm afraid we have only minutes before the potion begins to work…" Tony looked over at Loki. His eyes were cold, distant, menacing. He looked at the cup again, the contents had gone and the cup was dry of any tea from a moment ago. The cup fell to the floor, shattering into a million pieces.
"What do you mean?" He draped the sheet around his waist with shaking hands, before standing and shuffling around the bed till he stood in front of Loki. The tea he had drunk was turning his insides slowly, fizzing and sending cold shocks down his limbs "What have you done?" Tony asked a little louder, Loki practically shuddered at his tone, tears welling up in his eyes as he extinguished the cigarette and threw it to the floor.
"…I'm sorry." Tony clutched his throat, feeling his muscles tense from the hot liquid. "But this has to be done Tony…" He jumped up from the wall, grabbing Tony by his arms and steadying him, keeping him conscious enough to finish. "I couldn't begin to explain…and you couldn't begin to understand." His eyes slowly became the hazy pale blue as the potion began to work, numbing Tony's brain from particular memories. "I want you to know that I love you…I always have and will...but this is for the best." Tony struggled to fall into the induced coma, his jagged attitude biting back as he tried to speak, struggling to form one work on his tongue.
"Don't fight this!" He shook Tony hard, forcing him to silence. "This is for the best…I won't forget you, I promise." He whispered softly, reaching forward and kissing Tony's lips. The moment he met Tony, the boy collapsed into his arms. Loki lost the feeling in his legs falling with his love. He watched as the boy's eyes slipped closed, the lights under his lids flickering where he continued to fight the loss. Loki reached down, kissing his head once more before carrying him to his bed.
When Tony was sat on the bed, he wrapped his hands around his present; he muttered under his breath, the brightness of the medallion suddenly erupting to a dull unlit blue. He felt his shoulder lose some of the burden as the connection between them was broken, but so was his mind and lover. He broke the seal, He brushed the hair from Tony's pale eyes, allowing a few tears to fall to the body below him before evaporating into the air around him, leaving Tony to awaken with little to no memory of the past few weeks and a strange medallion that could be considered stolen for all the new Tony cared.