Summary: Tony learns intergalactic travelling doesn't always include sightseeing right away, and Loki proves traditional ways of greeting family are overrated.

Chapter III–Pretty impressive

Anamnesis (noun): recollection, especially of a supposed previous existence.

Loki felt his heart slamming against his breastbone, and he gripped Tony's hand (he was glad his palms never got sweaty, although the man could probably still tell how nervous he was).

He balled his other hand into a fist to keep it from trembling.

The passage would lead them to the far side of the palace gardens, and they would have to rely on his illusions from then on, but he would rather do that than set foot in the in-between again. His chest ached at that knowledge; there was something so wonderful, some place only he knew, and he was still too terrified from his fall to enter it again. The memory of Thanos burned too strong.

Tony squeezed his hand, and Loki forced the painful thoughts aside.

"You okay, babe?"

He nodded. Took a deep breath—and reached out with his power. Magic bled through his body like a warm, healing liquid. The air around them shimmered for a fraction of a second, long enough to distort the vision of anyone who may have been observing them. Sometimes, it was a necessity; Tony was too well known. Already, rumours about Tony being seen with a man couldn't be stopped, and while Tony didn't seem to mind too much, Loki didn't want to cause him any trouble, nor did he desire it for himself.

Closing his eyes, he let magic swirl around him, searching for the door, knocking on it. The universe parted. He took a deep breath, squeezed Tony's hand—

And pulled them through.

Power touched him, an atmosphere not unlike the in-between. Could Tony sense it, too, on some level?

It was over in but a moment. The park was gone, the trees substituted by a green cage of weeping willows. Water licked his shins. The only thing that remained was his hand in Tony's. And Tony. Always Tony.

"You teleported us into a lake!?"

"Shhh!" Loki hissed. "I didn't teleport us, it's a pond, and yes, we're standing in water. My apologies to your designer shoes."

Tony pouted. "Just sneakers," he muttered. "Give a man a warning."

"All right..." Sighing, he glanced at the Iron Man suitcase in Tony's other hand and the duffle bag hanging from his shoulder. "Next time. But now you'll do exactly as I say and be quiet unless I tell you otherwise."

Tony flashed him a grin. "Bossy. I like that."

Loki rolled his eyes.

"We need to get into the palace. Unnoticed. Which means you won't squeal when I use glamour on you."

"What gla—"

His mouth remained gaping open when his clothes changed from earthly fashion to the armour of a guard, and the suitcase in his hand to a sword. The duffle bag was suddenly invisible.

"What—how—this is amazing!"

Loki shot him a glare. "Shh!"

"Sorry," Tony mouthed.

"All right. Be careful with that." He nodded towards the sword. "It's only glamour. You're still holding your suit, so don't wave it around too much."

Tony nodded. Loki closed his eyes, telling himself to be calm, and felt glamour distort his exterior as well.

~*oO*o*Oo*~

It was easy to get into the palace. Embarrassingly easy, but then Loki had spent too much time trying to tell both Odin and the Council how unprotected the palace grounds were against magic users; they'd just refused to understand why any civilized person would sneak in in such an underhanded way, and the creatures who would did not possess magical power anyway.

Well, they only needed to look at him now.

Thor's chambers were a little more complicated—unless, of course, one knew when one shift ended and another began, and timed the arrival appropriately. A smooth word or two as a bonus, and the doors were opened for them.

Pathetic.

It had to be too easy to grow lazy and careless if one continued to sit on the glory of days long past.

Loki led the way through the arcade gallery, which was empty of servants at the moment, to the double doors leading into the more private rooms. He hadn't seen so much gold at once in a long time, but a millennium of walking these corridors had left its mark. They were familiar, known—yet alien and cold.

Without pausing, he pushed the door to the common room open, hoping Thor was there, so he could finally, finally drop the glamour and stop fighting to keep memories at bay.

A broad shouldered figure stood by the open fireplace. Another, slighter, was seated on the cushions. The sound of doors swinging open had Thor turning, a scowl on his face.

"Is anything the matter?" he said. "I don't remember sending for you—"

"That would be because you didn't," Loki snapped and pushed the door shut behind Tony. Glamour bled away from them like so much spilled water.

"Brother!" Thor's face lit up, and Loki felt anger stir inside him. "You came!"

"Not for you," he retorted. "I want to see m—Frigga before the funeral."

Thor blinked as if Loki had just said something foolish, then did it again.

"We... already had the funeral."

The world shifted.

They'd already...

And Thor hadn't...

He hadn't...

Red leaked into his vision, and a breath rattled through his chest.

"Bro—"

Before Thor could finish, Loki slammed his fist into the other's jaw. Eyes wide, Thor stumbled back a step, and then Loki's fist connected with his face again.

"Brother—"

"Don't you dare!" Loki swung his arm again, but this time Thor caught it. Loki brought the elbow of his other arm down on Thor's wrist; it earned him a howl. "Don't you dare ever call me that again! You are not my brother! You are not, and I don't want you to be!"

He managed to punch Thor in the face a second time. A moment later, a blow into his sternum made him stagger back.

"Loki," Tony said somewhere behind him, but Loki threw himself at Thor again. How could he not have told him? How could Thor claim they were brothers, yet he didn't care enough to let him know about the funeral? About his mother's death?

Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised... Why would they want a monster present at the ceremony...?

The woman was saying something in the background in a panicked voice, and he heard Tony's voice, too, but all he could see was Thor's blood where the Thunderer's lip had been split, and skin, skin Loki could hurt and mar. A hand closed around his upper arm, but he shook it off and lunged at Thor again, blinded by anger. A moment later, he was slammed against the wall.

His response was instinctive. Fire bloomed in his hands and danced up to his shoulders where Thor's grip was holding him captive. He heard a roar, felt the absence of the grip, but it didn't matter because his body was frozen, fearing pain, expecting pain, and he was sorry, he hadn't meant to, he really hadn't meant to—

He blinked. Thor was standing there, panting, and cradling his hands, and staring back, and Tony was there, too, slowly getting closer, and the stone wall behind Loki was solid, and familiar, and here.

His heartbeat began to slow down to its regular speed again. Tony came to stand beside him.

"You okay?"

Loki nodded. He was angry, so very angry, and torn inside, feeling as if something had been ripped out of him, but he wasn't panicking. He had no idea how much of that pang of terror could have been seen on the outside, but Tony had noticed the way he always did. Mostly. Sometimes, he wasn't there to notice.

Pushing his hair back, he moved from the wall and sat down on one of the couches. He focused on Jane, who was sitting across from him now. At least she'd cared to share the news with him unlike Thor. They did have an agreement: Asgard would leave Loki alone, and Loki would not interfere with their matters. Still, Frigga hadn't been only their matter… Not completely.

"What is the plan?"

"We go to Svartalfheim. Malekith will get the Aether out of Jane's body, and I shall attack him," Thor said from the side.

Not taking his eyes from Jane, Loki asked, "And you think this is going to work?"

"Of course. Why would it not?"

"Funny that." His lips stretched into a mirthless grin. "You're not saying anything, yet I keep hearing some noise…"

Jane opened her mouth, then closed it a second later. Tony didn't say anything, for which Loki was grateful. If anyone were to even attempt to defend Thor right now… He pressed his lips together.

"Miss Foster. Would you care to explain what you plan you have devised?"

She looked from him to Thor and back again, her mouth slightly agape. "I don't really know much. We wanted to go there and get rid of the Aether…"

Loki resisted the urge to facepalm, as Tony would say.

"Of course that would cause no suspicion whatsoever to arise… You expect to walk to enemy land, practically bringing them what they want on a silver platter, and have no questions asked? Brilliant. Have you considered Malekith could pull the Aether out of your body just as easily if you're dead?"

"I… No, but I'm not exactly the expert here." She stared back at him.

"Indeed, you're not."

"I'm not, either," Tony blurted next to Loki. The latter rolled his eyes at his lover.

"What?" Tony raised his hands defensively. "I felt the need to point it out. Sure, I'm a genius, but I wouldn't want the burden of expectations…"

Loki rolled his eyes again, but with much more affection this time. He turned to Jane again.

"I will think of something. In the meantime, we'll be in my chambers…"

"Brother..."

He ignored the idiot.

"Tony?"

The man nodded and got up. Loki did, too. A moment later, glamour flickered around them; Loki grit his teeth.

He could do that, there was nobody who would—

"We'll be back," he said in a flat voice and made for the door, only glancing to his side to make sure Tony was there. He led the way out with quick steps, striding through the open arcade hall and out of Thor's chambers, past the guards, away from Thor, away, away. He could feel Tony's presence next to him and longed for contact but couldn't afford to seek it out here, in the corridors.

Finally, he pressed his palms against the door of his own chambers. His old chambers. The place he used to call home for so long.

The doors opened obediently; a soft hum of magic ran through the metallic framework. They passed the doorstep. The glamour bled away, and Loki breathed a heavy sigh. His eyes slid closed. He didn't need to see the pillars leading up to four-centred arches to know they were there; his skin remembered the texture of stone from the times he used to hide behind them as a small child; his fingers knew the ornate patterns they'd traced so many times; his body knew the two stairs leading down to the centre of the hall; his ears expected to hear the crackling of the fire coming from the torches that nobody had touched for years.

Hands came to rest on his upper arms and a warm body pressed against his back.

"Snowflake..."

He sucked in another breath and leaned into the touch, hungry for the familiarity and comfort.

Tony's arms came around to his front.

"You have a bedroom somewhere in here, or is it all gothic cathedral?"

"This is nothing like the gothic style. You don't have a clue about architecture."

"I could build a house that wouldn't collapse. And pointed arches equal gothic."

"Not these arches. They are not narrow like a cathedral's. Arches alone don't determine the style."

"I know," Tony whispered against Loki's neck. "But it took your mind off other things for a moment. And all this does look pretty impressive."

"In a way, yes." He could see the magnificence of the architecture, the appeal it would hold for the earthly eye, but it was all too familiar, too heavy with memories.

Tony let go and took Loki's hand. "Come on. Let's get some rest."

Loki nodded. He turned left, pushed another door out of the way, and then another, and stopped in the sleeping chamber, gaze sweeping over the canopy master bed, the empty, cold fire place, and his beloved books covering an entire wall. Another one held the door to the balcony running down the whole wing of the palace. There were still papers scattered on the desk, droplets of ink splattered over one of them. A discarded quill lay on the side, exactly where he'd left it before the coronation.

The coronation. He'd barely had the time to breathe after that, or the strength to.

Everything was the way he'd left it. The quilts on the bed. One of his coats thrown over the backrest of the chair. The books on the nightstand, one of them opened.

Only the layer of dust was new.

A sudden pain gripped his chest and forced a strange, strangled sound out of his throat.

Had nobody ever come here? He knew magic prevented just anyone from sneaking in, but his mother? Thor?

If they had left the things untouched, had they dared to hope he might have survived? Thor had said they'd thought him dead, so why? Had nobody even wanted to come here?

"Hey..." Tony was suddenly there, his hand reaching up to Loki's cheek and making a wiping motion as if there were tears there, but there were none.

His body shuddered.

Tony took his hand and slowly, step by step, led him to the bed. Loki followed without protest and allowed himself to be guided down onto the mattress after Tony had pulled the top cover from it. The smell of dust filled Loki's nose for a moment. He felt numb. A part of his mind registered that Tony was pulling boots from his feet, and he wanted to protest, to say he could do that on his own, but he didn't want to move. He wasn't sure he could.

Pathetic.

But then Tony was lying beside him and parting his lips with a kiss, and Loki couldn't care if he was behaving like a weakling anymore. Tony never cared. He managed to make Loki feel loved, even worthy of that love, although there was a small part buried somewhere deep inside him fearfully counting seconds until Tony would go. It was inevitable. No matter how fast the man came back, his touch couldn't last forever.

"We need a plan," he muttered when Tony pulled away.

"You need to sleep."

He tried shaking his head. "I need to come up with a plan."

"And you will." Tony pressed his body against Loki's side and propped himself on an elbow. "After you get some rest. There will be enough time."

"Perhaps…"

Tony leaned in again, brushing his lips over Loki's. The god let himself be kissed while his mind drifted further and further away. Tony's lips moved to his cheek, and then they were gone, but Loki was too close to sleep to care.

~*oO*o*Oo*~

"My, this looks important."

Thor glanced around the table where his friends were seated. His gaze lingered on Fandral.

"It is important. I am taking Jane to Svartalfheim at nightfall.

Sif, forearms resting on the table, leaned forward. "Has the Allfather changed his mind?"

Thor shook his head. "Loki has agreed to help me."

"Wasn't he banished?" Volstagg spoke from the side.

"Aye." Thor glanced at his hands. He didn't know what Loki's status was at the moment, but surely he must have had some sort of agreement with their father. Odin was not in the habit of crying for no reason, though what had caused those tears to appear, Thor had yet to find out. The lack of trust stung.

"Are you mad?! He will stab you in the back the first chance he gets!"

Thor returned Sif's gaze. "No, he won't."

"And what have you promised him to be so sure?"

A pang of guilt went through his chest. He hadn't even thanked Loki. It was true that Loki had attacked him upon his arrival, but Thor still owed him gratefulness. Loki's rage burned him. Thor had been planning to inform Loki of their mother's death, but what would another day or two had been? Frigga would still be dead, whereas a day or two could determine whether Jane lived or died. The funeral had come and gone as well. There really would not have been a difference if he'd told Loki later.

"He is here because he chose to be. I know he won't betray me." Not with Man of Iron around.

"You trust him too much," Hogun said, then turned to Heimdall. "Is it not your job to report any trespassers?"

The Watchman inclined his head just the slightest. "You know not what I see or hear. If I'd seen Loki in Asgard, I would have to report it, yes."

"Enough about that," Thor said. "I'm asking you to help me. All of you. It may not be necessary, but it also might."

Silence settled over them for a moment, heavy with anticipation.

Sif leaned forward. "What do we need to do?"

A/N: A huge thank to everyone who's read/reviewed/favourited/etc. this story so far. I hope you're all doing great. Stay awesome.

(And maybe drop a review, yes?)

~shades