"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?"
"Move away please... You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you want to find out?"
"No!"
"If you want to be a hero so much then I'll let you share my brother's fate."
/
I woke up with a start, one hand clutching at my chest and the other at the sheets. I thought I'd gotten over these nightmares.
Apparently not.
I wiped the sweat off my forehead, looking across to my clock and read the time off. 3:24am, way too early for my taste. I lay back down again, trying to calm my breathing and rubbing my temples.
Was it because Loki was back? He was in the same building as us, and even though Thor had returned it still scared me.
/
We all turned as the God of Thunder approached, a stern look on his face as he entered the tower and his gaze not leaving Loki's face.
"Right on time," said Tony, stepping back from the Trickster. "We were just finished agreeing on our great plan to stop the Chitauri."
"And that plan involves my brother?"
"Well we need him as bait," replied the billionaire.
"What Tony means is that we think the Chitauri are after Loki to get the Tesseract back, which means they'd invade again- except this time it would be a lot worse," interceded Bruce before Thor could object to us using his 'brother' like that. "We figure if we can get the device that's allowing them to follow Loki then we can hopefully stop them from getting their hands on it and… well, invading."
"Loki must face his punishment on Asgard."
"You can fetch him later," said Tony, waving his hand in dismissal. "Save earth first, punish Loki later."
/
After only a few minutes it became apparent that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I begrudgingly got up, stretching my arms before pulling on my dressing gown and decided to get a drink from the kitchen.
For weeks after I'd returned home I'd had nightmares about that incident, about falling towards certain death and my mind supplying the details of what would have happened if Thor hadn't saved us. Being around Loki again had awoken those dreams from my subconscious, and… others.
As I approached the kitchen I was only somewhat surprised to see the light on, given all that's happened it wasn't surprising that others would be unable to sleep. There were no audible sounds coming from the room so it was probably only one person, but who was it?
I entered the room to see Tony sitting at the table, leaning on it with a glass pressed against his head. He didn't acknowledge my presence until I had got my own glass, the noise from putting it down on the counter knocking him from his thoughts.
"What are you doing up, Crazy Chick?" he asked, peeling the glass from his forehead and leaving a red mark behind. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"Shouldn't you?" I countered, turning on the tap. "What's the matter, miss Pepper?"
Wondering about the absence of the redhead earlier I had put the question to Tony, apparently she was back in Malibu dealing with company matters seeing as Tony was busy with rebuilding and remodifying the tower.
"Just a bad dream," he said with a shrug, his usual sarcastic and annoying self subdued at such a late hour. "I'm guessing it's the same for you."
"Yeah," I confirmed, taking the seat opposite him. "Having Loki in the same building is enough to put anyone on edge."
"Well I've got Jarvis keeping an eye on him, if he tries anything then we'll know about it," he replied. "And we'll know if Thor tries to drag him back to Asgard."
/
"You believe that we are not able to protect the Tesseract?" accused Thor, sounding angry.
"Well Loki's been leading you a merry dance across worlds," countered Tony. "Who's to say that if you took him back to Asgard to be punished it wouldn't just make him want to re-join the Chitauri and give them the Tesseract."
"He has a point," said Loki, smirking at his 'brother' –though his eyes were cold.
"Shut up," snapped Clint, looking like he was considering just handing Loki to the Thunderer.
"Do not speak to my brother like that," warned Thor, and for a moment it seemed like a fight might break out.
"Why don't you stay with us until this is over and then take Loki," suggested Bruce. "Wouldn't you want to give him a chance to redeem himself?"
Now that got Thor, who seemed to still believe that his brother could be saved and we knew it wouldn't be hard to convince him- especially since he wouldn't want Earth to end up in the path of another invasion, one that promised to be a lot more dangerous than the least one.
/
"Are you always going to call me, Crazy Chick?" I asked suddenly, capturing the billionaire's attention once again. "Do you really still think I'm crazy?"
"Of course," he replied. "Besides, it's an affectionate nickname for you."
"Affectionate?" I echoed, taking a sip of my drink. "Offensive is more like it."
He gave me that annoying grin of his, making me roll my eyes and take another sip. It didn't seem possible for Tony and I to have a civil conversation without it turning into a joke. Although in any case it was my fault for bringing my 'nickname' up- I didn't really mind it, it was kind of an affectionate nickname from him. But it was still annoying.
"Thank you," I said, mulling things over in my head.
"For what?" he asked, looking puzzled slightly. "For calling you crazy?"
"No," I replied patiently. "I mean for this; for letting me stay with you and just looking after me in general."
"It's no problem," he replied with a shrug. "I've got more than enough money and no company at the moment what with Pepper being away."
"What about the other Avengers?" I asked curiously, not even considering to mention Loki.
"They're not the greatest company, most of the time we still have trouble getting on," explained the playboy, taking a sip from his own glass. "Bruce and I get along when we're talking about science stuff, but he's too boring for me."
I can imagine- the limelight loving billionaire and the quiet, secluded scientist- more like the main couple in some cheesy romance novel than two great friends.
Tony looked up with that grin again.
"Know any good drinking games?"
/
"Do you truly believe that my brother can redeem himself?" asked Thor, looking between us. For a moment no-one dared to answer, to say the word which- even if a lie- would mark them down.
"Yes," I finally said for everyone, ignoring the gloating smirk of Loki and trying to still my racing heart.