A/N: I decided to update two chapters today to make up for the long delay. As always, please read, review, and enjoy! I own nothing!
Tony was standing behind the newly-built bar in his living room, Loki lying across the couch, while the television showed the news. As soon as they had gotten back to Stark Tower, Tony had filled Fury and the others in on what had happened. While Fury tracked down Thanos with the help of Steve and Natasha in SHIELD's HQ, Tony poured himself and his guest two glasses of wine. Fury had held his end of the bargain, and had handed full custody of the god over to Tony...for now.
As Tony walked over to the couch, glasses and bottle in hand, Loki called out miserably, "It's only a matter of time before Thanos comes for me. Perhaps it would have been better for everyone if I hadn't survived."
"Nonsense, don't say that," Tony scolded as he set the glasses and bottle down on the nearest table and gently lifted Loki's feet so that he could prop the god's feet up onto his lap for comfort. "I didn't go through hell and back just to see you die on me."
Tony had given Loki a new pair of pants and a fresh shirt for the god to wear and while the shirt was somewhat loose on the god, and the pants a little short, the god did look damn good in them. The green button-up complimented Loki's not-so-blue-anymore eyes quite nicely. Green definitely was his color.
Loki chuckled softly, and Tony was broken out of his reverie as those emerald eyes locked with his.
"Why did you go through such trouble, Stark?"
Tony cleared his throat after a pause as he reached down for the glasses and offered one to Loki.
"It's not Asgardian alcohol, but it should do for now."
Tony threw back the wine and let out a content sigh as he rested his head against the back of the couch, not meeting Loki's eyes. But the god was persistent and after taking a sip of the wine, he whispered softly, "You still haven't answered my question."
"All in good time, I suppose," Tony grinned back as he reached forward for the bottle.
However, Loki's hand stopped his mid-movement, and Tony's eyes were drawn to the god's as the ex-criminal moved his hand from Tony's wrist to his hand, entwining their fingers together.
"Wouldn't you say now is a good enough time? Before anything else happens?"
The words got caught in Tony's throat as he coughed and tried to pull away, but Loki wasn't having any of it. Keeping his hand entwined with Tony's, Loki set his glass carefully down on the table with his free hand and moved closer so that he was only a foot away from the inventor. Gently Loki reached out his hand and rested it on Tony's shoulder.
"Do I get to apologize again in a less-threatening atmosphere for putting you through so much trouble just to save me?"
"No you don't because you were worth it," Tony found himself saying before his brain could connect with his mouth.
"But why me?" Loki asked confused. "After everything I've done..."
Tony set his glass down as well and turned to face the god.
"What I want to know is why didn't Thanos kill you the minute he got hold of you? He must be planning something else for you, but we won't let him get to you."
"Thanos cannot be contained –"
"Hello, I thought we went through this the first time we met. The Avengers won't stop at anything to avenge what we care about." Tony winked at Loki. "And you seem to have come up on our radar more than once as someone we care about."
"How did you get the others to help you though? Are you sure Barton is no longer under the tesseract's power?"
Before Tony could explain, they were interrupted.
"MAN OF IRON, I HEARD THE JOYOUS NEWS OF YOU RETRIEVING MY BROTHER! HOW IS HE?" a voice boomed as the elevator doors opened.
Tony and Loki jumped apart from one another, like two teenagers getting caught kissing by their parents. Quickly Tony grabbed the wine glasses and bottle and rushed to the kitchen, stashing the bottle so Thor wouldn't try to have any. He had been saving it for a special moment, dammit!
"What do you want, Thor?" Loki asked tiredly. He didn't bother hiding how irked he was as he glared at his adoptive brother, and Tony couldn't help but share his sentiments at being interrupted.
"I came to see how you were faring, dear brother!" Thor announced as he flopped down next to the couch, looking into Loki's face. "You are no longer under the tesseract's control, I believe?"
"Correct, thanks to this bracelet Tony gave me," Loki replied curtly, waving his arm for Thor to see. "Any news about Thanos?"
"Oh yes, when I went to speak with the Elders and Odin about how to go about saving you, they informed me that there is a way to bring Thanos down. And they graced me with the knowledge and weaponry needed to do so," Thor said cheerfully.
"Bringing him down will not be easy," Loki tried to explain, fiddling with his bracelet.
"There's nothing the Avengers can't face," Tony reassured him as he entered back into the room.
"Man of Metal is right!" Thor agreed, bouncing to his feet. "I shall go inform Director Fury of the specifics."
"That sounds like a good idea, boss," Tony said quickly, ushering Thor to the elevator. "Be sure to relay whatever One-Eye has to say back to us, okay?"
"You are not coming with me?" Thor's eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"Sorry Hunkers but I have things to do...and so does Loki," Tony added quickly, trying to push Thor into the elevator but not having much success.
"Loki, are you alright staying here with Anthony? I could stay if you need me -"
"No! I-I mean, no. I'm fine here with Stark, Thor. He rescued me after all, and you should trust him. Please, go find Director Fury as quickly as possible."
"Alright dear brother, I am off then!" Thor announced as he stepped into the elevator and pushed the button. Right before the door closed, the god called out, "And it is good to see you doing well, dear brother."
Tony slumped against the closed elevator, letting out a breath as he headed back to the couch.
"I'm sorry about that."
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault he's like a wounded dog begging for love and attention," Loki explained with a wave of his hand in dismissal of the subject.
Tony chuckled to himself as he resumed his spot on the couch.
"Now...I do believe we were about to watch a movie or something, right?"
The smirk on Loki's face turned positively feral as the man leaned forward, gently cupping Tony's cheek in his hand and turning the inventor's face to his so that Tony couldn't look away. Loki's touch sent shivers through him, and Tony felt his eyes temporarily slip closed at the contact. But as his face was turned, his eyes opened back up to meet Loki's green ones.
"Why am I worth going through so much trouble? You hardly know anything about me other than what I have freely told you about myself. A few months ago you were prepared to kill me and now you have gone through so much trouble to keep me from being killed. Why?"
Without saying a word, Tony took Loki's hand that rested on his face and lowered it so that the god's hand was resting over the arc reactor. Mirroring this motion, Tony rested his own hand on Loki's chest, over where a knife wound had once resided.
"We're similar, you and I. There are those who think we should be locked up while lab rats pick our brains and try to figure us out, but when it comes down to it, the only people who could ever hope to understand us completely are you and me. Before I started seeing you in that jail cell, I felt like nobody would ever understand me or what I was trying to accomplish. I felt judged from left and right, and nobody was there for me in the way I wanted them to be. But then I started talking to you, and I realized what we had in common, and I found out I could share that bond with you. You understood what it felt like to be an outcast...to feel chained to a certain lifestyle everyone else had planned for you but in actuality, it wasn't what you wanted at all. Well, not entirely...anyway, what I'm getting at is..."
Tony trailed off as he felt Loki gently brush his fingers over the arc reactor, causing Tony to pause. He could still feel Loki's nimble fingers ripping the arc reactor out of his chest.
"Yes Stark?"
"Call me Tony...please," Tony begged, leaning forward slightly and trying to shake the feeling of dread over Loki's hand being so close to his heart.
Loki suddenly seemed to feel the tension in Tony's body for he started to withdraw his hand from the arc reactor, but Tony's hand took his and stopped it from leaving his chest.
"You don't trust me," Loki deadpanned.
Tony sighed as he continued, "Maybe I am stupid to go through such troubles to rescue someone who probably was bored to death by me in that cell, and maybe I'm crazy enough to want this to work out so badly, but Loki...I feel like you're it. You're the real deal. There's nobody else I would rather be with right now and maybe you think I'm crazy for trusting you when you tried to kill me but -"
Tony was cut off as Loki's hand brushed over the arc reactor again, the god shaking his head with a soft smile on his lips.
"You're the only one besides Thor who believed in me. And for that I owe you everything. You've rescued me several times lately; it would be foolish of me to not try to rescue you, even if it's from your own fears."
"Loki, I -" Tony started, but he was cut off as the elevator doors opened. "Doesn't anybody knock anymore?" Tony shouted as he jumped up and spun around to face the newcomer.
"The others are in trouble," Bruce called out as he briskly walked forward. "Suit up Stark, we've got a mission."
XXXX
"You know if somebody had told me years ago that magic was real and aliens came to Earth to fight their battles, I'm pretty sure I would have laughed at them. Guess I'm the foolish one, huh?"
"Not foolish, more like naïve," Thor corrected the supersoldier as the duo sat in the back of one of SHIELD's helicarriers. "Before coming to Earth I never would have imagined mortal humans to be this much entertaining to be around. You're a nice change of scenery from the Elders and the high-and-mighty gods back in Asgard."
Steve smirked at that and looked down at the shield in his hands.
"Do you ever keep thinking this is all some sort of weird dream, and that you are going to wake up from it at any moment back in Asgard surrounded by your friends and loved ones?"
"Sometimes," Thor admitted, "but I have more 'friends and loved ones' as you put it here on Midgard. So if I were to wake up, I fear I would be rather disappointed."
Steve nodded, but kept his gaze lowered. Thor leaned forward and asked, "What else ails you my friend? Are you missing your friends and loved ones from your time period?"
Steve bit the inside of his cheek before replying, "I just can't believe most of them are gone. I didn't get to say goodbye, you know?"
Thor nodded as he said, "I didn't get to say goodbye to my friends when I was first sent here by Odin either. I had no idea where I was or what was going on. This world is very different from the one I had grown up in, but perhaps it is for the better. I like this world a whole lot more anyway. There's always some excitement going on down here on Midgard. I never have time to get bored or think too much."
Steve was interrupted from his thoughts when Thor leaned further forward and rested a hand on the captain's knee.
"You will grow to love and admire this time period the way I have, my friend. There are still plenty of wars to be fought, and plenty of dictators to take down. Midgard still needs you the way it did all those years ago."
Steve looked up into Thor's face and nodded.
"Sorry to interrupt you boys, but we're here. Shall we see if we can take down an alien?"
Steve and Thor looked at one another before standing up and going to join Natasha outside of the helicarrier.
XXXX
Bruce had been checking Clint's vitals when suddenly the archer sat up and looked around for his quiver.
"What's wrong?"
"They're headed for a trap," Clint whispered as his hand flew to his head and he emitted a groan.
"Is it a headache? Probably a reaction to the reduction of magic and all the times we hit you –"
"This isn't a reaction to anything. I had a vision the tesseract showed me."
"But how could it be showing you visions? You haven't had its power in your system since –"
"It showed it to me when I still was controlled by it. I've just remembered it now," Clint explained as he ripped off wired attached to his body and stood up. Taking a step he wobbled a bit, and Bruce quickly rushed to his side to steady him.
Gently placing one arm around Clint's waist and a hand on his shoulder to steady him, Bruce asked, "Who's in trouble?"
"Tasha, Steve, Thor – they're heading into a trap!" Clint tried to take a few steps towards his quiver, but his body shuddered as he threatened to fall.
Instantly Bruce caught him, letting Clint's body weigh against his as the doctor tried to steady him.
"Clint, you need to rest. I'll call Fury and the others and let them know."
"It's too late," Clint whispered as his eyes shut tightly against the pain. "You won't make it in time."
"Then what can we do?" Bruce asked as he gently sat Clint back down on the bed, crouching between Clint's knees to keep the archer upright.
"You need to go there and get angry," Clint said, locking his gaze with Bruce's. "It's the only way to save them."
"I'll get Tony to help me, but please rest here and wait for us to return," Bruce pleaded as he gingerly pushed Clint's body to lie down on the bed. "And don't try to move once I'm gone either."
Before Clint slipped unconscious, he reached forward and grabbed Bruce's lab coat.
"Be careful big guy."
Bruce smiled at him and replied, "He'll try."