Chapter Two
Tony was pushing the Iron Man suit as hard as it would go, zooming down to Malibu. Just trying to get away from his feelings, leave them behind.
"JARVIS - invoke lockdown on New York Tower living quarters code alpha-box-three-two-five-nine due for completion at 1000 tomorrow. Inform Miss Potts unless the company is imploding she is to work out the issues by herself, I will be working on a new project."
"Sir, are you sure that is advisable? Shall I contact Mr Loki Odinson?"
"He's busy. And he is meant to be returning tonight."
Tony ignored JARVIS's further response after reiterating the lockdown code. When he got to his beachside home, he immediately locked himself in his lab.
"JARVIS pull up the ideas folder I need something simple."
The folder opened up with schematics scattered around him. "No" he said as preliminary specs for Steve's new shield popped up, he trashed the new arrow tips for Clint with more force than necessary, he squished any desire to investigate a new material for shorts for Bruce and when designs for knife storage in Natasha's room came up he up-ended the table beside him. Sending his tech crashing to the floor.
Before the sound had stopped reverberating around the lab Tony had slid to the floor in the middle of the mess releasing a broken sob.
When Loki arrived across the Bifrost he was confused to find himself in Malibu rather than New York but he resolved Tony must have decided a break by the beach, just the two of them, was warranted. The lab was a mess, Tony must have found a new exploding project to amuse himself. He was just about to move further into the messy lab when he heard a sob coming from behind the destroyed desk.
"Tony...?" Loki queried. He moved around the desk. Tony was curled up with an almost empty bottle of scotch clutched in a hand and another bottle lying beside him. He was surrounded by broken glass and splinters of wood. Some had pierced his skin and he had lines of blood on his face, arms and legs and his shirt was ripped exposing the arc reactor. The blue device was dislodged and the skin surrounding it had red grazes where fingernails had clawed at it.
"TONY!" he yelled panic surrounding the God, rushing forward he reinserted the reactor. "Tony, Tony - what happened? Are you alright?" When his only response was the lolling of his head and a glassy stare Loki turned to JARVIS.
"JARVIS how long has he been like this?"
The AI didn't respond. Tony did. "I pulled his power." he slurred. "He was going to answer Fury's call and then didn't want to keep Capsicle off the property so I pulled the plug on the bastard before he betrayed me too."
Loki was horrified! What had happened while he was gone?
Tony continued, "Are you going to leave too? I'm just a self-centred arsehole that will never achieve anything with an ego the size of Asia and a God complex-" he rambled, "funny that, because I'm fucking a god!"
"Oh Tony, what did they do?" Loki spoke to himself as his boyfriend hiccupped and fell silent. When he tried to bring the bottle back to his lips Loki pried it out of his hand saying, "I think that's enough."
Tony protested but Loki just pulled the distraught man into a hug. He clung onto the God breaking into tears and slowly, wet saturated Loki's Asgardian robes. When Tony exhausted himself Loki lifted the man cradled against him and made his way to bed carrying the limp figure.
In the bedroom he carefully laid him on the bed, lovingly stripping the man of his ruined clothes. Once he was naked he slowly traced each scrape, bruise and cut allowing his magic to heal every one. When he was done he tucked Tony in and placed a kiss on his forehead imparting a dreamless spell upon the prone figure, allowing his lover to sleep without nightmares for the night.
When he was sure Tony would not wake until morning Loki moved off the bed and disappeared from the bedroom.
The magician reappeared in S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters in the conference room where Fury had gathered the Avengers. His arrival prompted drawn weapons and his appearance didn't help matters, one shoulder was wet, his robes had splodges of blood and his hair was out of its generally pristine position.
"Brother!" Thor started.
"Shut up Point Break." Loki snapped.
The God was enraged. "What did you do?" he snarled at Fury, hands slamming down on the table and his skin crackling with magic.
Fury stood tall. "Mr Laufeyson-"
"Odinson"
"Odinson, it is classified information that only S.H.I.E.L.D personal have access-"
"It becomes unclassified when I come home to find my partner well into his second bottle of scotch, with cuts and bruises all over him and the device keeping him alive out of his chest."
There was a sharp intake of breathe from Bruce, Thor and Steve.
"If Mr Stark has decided the world is too much, there is no evidence that I or my team had anything to do with it." Fury continued trying to deflect the angry sorcerer.
"Oh I'm sorry," Loki countered, magic turning malicious, "Did I forget to mention his rambling about the Avengers and a betrayal? Tell me WHAT HAPPENED!" he demanded.
Fury stayed silent. It was Natasha that spilt the beans earning the ferocious gaze of the God.
"We told him he was compromised and could no longer join us on missions. He quit."
"Idiots." Loki snarled back. He removed himself from the room before he took his anger out on one of them.
"Well at least he didn't kill us." Clint said into the silence.
"I'm moving back to Calcutta." was Bruce's disgusted reply. "Only contact me if there is a world ending scenario on level with the Chitauri." he stood and exited the room.
"I will be engaged in trying to re-establish a personal relationship with my brother in arms." Thor boomed and Natasha and Steve followed the Norse God out.
Only Fury and Clint remained. "You headed out the door?" The Director demanded resigned to losing the Avengers initiative and brain already whirling with the impossible options he had to find.
"I fucked up. Tony won't want to be anywhere near me and I have nothing outside S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Neither has Agent Romanoff."
"She has not always been S.H.I.E.L.D."
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