When Loki awoke he was alone in the dark room. He was cold and as he sat up and looked around the room was dark. The light colored walls were dark and the paint peeled from them in large chunks. "Anthony?" he called and got up. The ground was littered with dirt and he looked towards the door where it was coming. "Anthony?" he said again and opened the door.
He was out of his apartment and stepped forward carefully towards the small crowd. He pushed through them angrily and froze as he saw the elaborate grave they stood in front of. Loki dropped to his knees as he read the name written largely on the tomb stone. "No, Anthony..." he breathed and his hands gripped handfuls of the dirt as he cried. He looked up as he felt a fragile hand grab his arm gently.
"It's okay." The old man who grabbed his arm said. "It was finally his time. He was happy." he smiled sadly and Loki felt his blood run cold as he recognized Banner's slightly curly gray hair and gentle green eyes. He looked at the others and they were similar, shadows of what they had been and close to death as well. Loki looked back at the marble stone, his eyes full of tears and cried more when he saw his own face reflected in the smooth marble, still young and as sharp as it always had been and knew it would be centuries before he could follow his Anthony.
He felt himself being tugged out of the dream as he felt a soft hand on his cheek and had to blink the tears away before he could see Tony looking down at him with concern. "Hey, baby, what's wro-" Tony didn't even get to finish asking before Loki's arms wrapped around him tightly and held onto him. "Hey...it's okay." he breathed soothingly and ran his hand over Loki's hair. "Whatever it is, it'll be okay. It was just a dream." he said as Loki shook in his arms.
"No... No, it's not." Loki croaked softly and pulled back as Tony began to wipe his tears. "It's our future... it's my future without you." He breathed and closed his eyes. Tony frowned and looked down at him, still wiping away at Loki's tears and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Hey." he said sternly when he understood. "Look at me." he told him and smiled softly when Loki's eyes opened to look at him again. "I'm not going anywhere." he said softly and kissed his lips gently. "You and I will figure it out." he promised with a soft smile. "I'll fight death itself if I have to." he promised and nuzzled him, feeling Loki relax under him.
Loki looked up at him hopefully. "Yeah?" he asked and kissed him gently, a bit more desperate, his hands burying in Tony's hair. "How?" He demanded. "How are we supposed to stay together, when my life is more than twenty times of yours?" he said. "It doesn't help that you insist on putting yourself in danger." He tightened his fists around Tony's shirt.
Tony sighed softly. "Come on, love." He said gently. "If Thor manages to defeat Odin, won't he become the all-father?" he asked him and Loki frowned.
'I mean... yes" He said "but why does that matter?" he asked him, not caring about power now that he had Tony back.
Tony smiled at much Loki had changed. "Because Thor still has to find a way to keep Steve alive, which means that whatever he does, we can piggyback on." He smirked. "Come on, I can't even be the smart one." Loki blinked and then smiled.
"Yeah..." he said softly. "I guess I was being stupid." He ran his hand through Tony's hair. "...You promise we'll be okay?" he asked.
Tony smiled and nodded. "Yeah." he said softly and nuzzled him happily. "Don't you think we've suffered enough?" he asked and kissed him deeply. Loki moaned softly into his lips and held onto Tony closely. Tony sighed in annoyance as someone knocked.
"Guys." Natasha called. "It's almost time. We gotta go" She said and they sat up.
"Ready?" Tony smiled and Loki nodded, slipping his hand into Tony's. They walked out together and followed the others down. They stood in the circle made by the bifrost and Loki looked up.
"Thor!" He called and they waited. "Thor!" No reply came and Loki hissed. "That idiot." He looked at the others. "We can't move from here." He told them and they settled down on the ground. Tony sighed and held Loki close to him, not feeling like he could let the other go after everything. Loki smiled softly and leaned back onto him and sighed happily. "How are you all feeling?" he asked them.
"We're coming out of the drugged state, so like shit." Clint said. "Bruce especially." he said and looked down at him worriedly and wiped the bit of sweat off of the man's brow.
"I'm fine." he said softly but he was shaking gently and his eyes flashed green from time to time. "It's just... the other guy keeps trying to come out." Loki frowned and sat up from where he was against Tony's chest and moved forward to see if he could help. As he moved, there was the sound of a shot and Loki managed to raise his hands to put up a defense barrier for them and looked around to see if anyone was hurt.
"You fucking missed!" The guy that Loki had attacked before hissed and they ran away before anyone could do anything.
"Tony..." Natasha breathed and they looked down at his stomach as his clothes began to soak through with blood. Loki screamed and Tony looked at him as he began to fall onto the ground, barely registering anything besides how light her felt. Loki eased him down gently and Tony felt a few stray tears land on his face.
"No, no!" Loki said and tried to heal him but it was slow and his hand pressed against the wound in Tony's stomach to try to keep him from bleeding out. "No! You promised!" He grabbed one of his hands and brought it to his cheek. "Look at me. Remember, you promised." He kissed his hand desperately, trying to blink the tears out of his eyes so he could look at him. "Please."
Tony felt blood in his mouth and tried his best to swallow it down. "I know..." he breathed and smiled up at him. "I'm still here." he stroked his cheek gently but he felt his vision fading around the edges.
"Thor!" Steve screamed up, the rest of them not knowing what to do as they watched their friend die. "Thor, please!" he begged up.
Loki lay down by him on the ground and he sobbed into his neck. Was this it? Was he really never meant to be happy? He didn't deserve Tony, but he cursed the fates that had forced the man to love him back and accept him in a way that no one else had. "You can't leave me." he breathed. Even until Tony's last moments, Loki would be selfish. He eased Tony's pain but even now he felt him slipping away from him. "Please." he begged in a voice so small he doubted that Tony heard and brought the man's hand to his mouth. He pressed shaky kisses to his hand and held it to his own face, needing Tony's touch more than ever now. "Please." He whimpered again and closed his eyes so he could fell Tony's chest rise and fall under him.
Tony's hand was slow as he touched him. "Maybe...it's just finally my time." he breathed, knowing it was... feeling it was... and needed Loki to know and to let him go. "But... I was happy..." he slurred as his eyes fell shut "with you." He took a deep breath and felt his mouth fill with blood again. "Even... even the worst times were g-great with you." He felt his heart break as Loki looked at him with his large green eyes filled with pain and anger eyes.
"You promised." He insisted and Tony nodded.
"I know." He said "but-" he felt his eyes closing and Tony's hand on his shirt tightened. "You gotta let me go, Loki... ." He said, knowing the words were in vain. "I love you, yeah?" he breathed, wanting to say it and for Loki to know it in his last breath. "I love you so much." He whispered and held onto him as best he could.
Loki watched his eyes close as the mark of the bifrost lit up from under them and they were taken away. He barely felt the journey this and when they landed he was already numb. With the thousands of lights that swirled around them in the bifrost, the only light Loki's eyes remained on was the one in Anthony's chest, his Anthony, and then it went out with a soft flicker.
He knew people were around them, felt people try to touch his arm or to grab Tony but he didn't budge. He lay over him, pulling his cape over Tony like a blanket and curled up by him, tucking himself into his side. He didn't know how much time went by as he lay there. Sometimes he just looked at Tony's face, his magic keeping him warm and almost looking alive, and Loki traced a finger over his cheekbones and jaw. "You have to wake up, love." He urged him once the skies began to get dark. "It's almost night." he nudged Tony gently and nuzzled him. "Please... y-you'll get sick if we just lie here all night." he insisted and kissed his cheek. "Please... please, wake up."
Tony's friends watched from a distance. "We have to take him back..." Clint said softly, his own eyes red and puffy. "Ton-he wouldn't want anything to happen to Loki by just staying here." he said and went to try to ease Loki off the ground but the god fought him and pushed him away desperately, rushing back to curl up to Tony and continued talking to him.
"He won't leave." Thor said softly, holding onto Steve as the blonde cried. "...I'll leave two guards here to watch over him tonight. We'll see what we can do tomorrow." he told them and took a last sad look to his brother, who was stroking Tony's cheek gently. "Come." He led them into the carriage and they began to ride back to the palace.