Hello again! I am so sorry it has taken so long to update but teachers choose to assign all of the big projects right at the end of the school year. So much fun. I am very happy to add another chapter to this story and I have already started the next chapter that will (hopefully) be longer than this one by quite a bit. I hope everyone likes!
Now edited because I was too lazy and impatient to do it before.

Not mine, never mine, usual disclaimers

"I believe you owe me a drink," Loki stated smoothly as Tony walked in through the glass doors of the penthouse and froze, his breath catching in his throat and his eyes widening in shock.

Loki was in his house, slouched unthreateningly on a barstool, but all Tony could see was the confident smirk of the god that had thrown him out of a window, the god who had created a portal and brought in aliens, the portal that he had taken the nuke through, the portal that behind held the endless emptiness of the void that no words could describe.

Dimly, Tony could hear JARVIS attempting to talk him out of the panic attack that gripped him but it was just white noise as he struggled for breath and collapsed onto floor. One hand flew to his new and improved arc reactor that he had put in his chest to fill the gap left by the surgery, feeling the smooth casing to solidify its existence in his mind. The steady glow of the miniature arc was normally reassuring but even the constant, blue light was unable to calm his racing heart.

He missed Loki's fearful looks at the ceiling, searching for JARVIS, and the widening eyes as he watched Tony fall, unable to understand what was happening or help avoid it. All Tony could see was Loki.

Loki, who wore the same broken mask. Loki, who had the same rough voice, and Loki, whose same brittle smirk graced his lips. Everything was exactly the same except for small details and eyes. The eyes were all wrong. In place of the mesmerizing blue was a piercing green that shone as bright as emeralds.

Tony's mind struggled to comprehend the change and the significance when there was an almost audible click. Blue of the tesseract, Clint's blue eyes, Loki's blue eyes. And Tony was able to breath again.

His newly gained understanding, however small, of what had really happened at the Battle of Manhattan and after helped lessen the fear that caused the panic attacks in the first place. For a genius like Tony, knowledge was everything and the fear of uncertainty and of the unknown was what triggered each and every one of his panic attacks. But now something was different. Now Tony had Loki, the perfect person to answer all of the questions that tore him from sleep every night.

Some things were becoming clear now. This wasn't the same Loki, Loki had been controlled before, the blue eyes changing to green being evidence of that, and now he was released from the previous control. But why was he at his tower? Thor had taken Loki to Asgard and then returned a few months later with news that Loki had perished in the fight for the Ether. And why was the Chaos God cowering next to one of his barstools looking fearfully at both the ceiling and himself?

It was only then that Tony noticed the gradually widening puddle of blood around Loki, the bruising that mottled the other man's arms where the tunic had moved, the extreme paleness of the god, and the fear in the brilliant green orbs.

"Mute," Tony coughed out as his ability to breathe returned and JARVIS fell silent. All of Loki's attention turned towards him as the inventor stood shakily and stumbled over to where the ebony-haired god was crouched, each step more steady as he recovered his balance and breath.

"It's ok, I'm fine. That happens more than I want it to but it's not like I can stop it. Besides, I've had far worse. The voice in the ceiling is JARVIS. He is an AI, Artificial Intelligence, and I built him. Don't worry, everyone freaks out when they first hear him. Thor kept talking about a spirit in the walls for weeks after he heard JARVIS for the first time..."

Tony rambled on about each of the Avengers hilarious reactions to hearing JARVIS as he cautiously crept closer to Loki. As he continued to talk the other man began to relax, but Tony was still worried about the growing pool of blood surrounding the god.

Finally, Tony reached out towards the ebony haired man who immediately tensed back up and grimaced slightly at the pain before the mask of indifference slid over his face once again.

"You do realize that my floor is very expensive, right?" Tony asked with a small smile. Loki cocked his head to the side in confusion. Clearly he did not know that the tile for the floor were so very expensive or why that was so important.

"You're getting blood all over my very nice, new tiles so either get up and sit yourself on the couch or let me help you," Tony said as he stared directly into the deep green eyes of the fearful god crouched in front of him.

Slowly, Tony reached out and lightly grasped Loki's arm, ignoring the flinch the touch caused, and pulled both Loki and himself toward the living room. All the while Loki was staring at Tony like he was crazy.

"Why are you doing this?" Loki asked softly, his normally smooth voice rough.

"Because you are hurt," Tony answered honestly, "and because you are the only one that can give me the answers that will let me sleep."

The last part was added softly, an admission that Tony did not normally make. Ms. Potts had known about the nightmare but had never understood why he had them and had never cared enough to try and help.

After she had left, Tony had retreated behind Iron Man's mask and the usual Tony Stark facade of narcissism. How ironic was it that "Natalie Rushman" and classified him as having textbook narcissism when that was literally what it was, narcissism taken right from a textbook. The narcissism was just another shield against the rest of the world, another barrier around his fragile heart.

Tony didn't know how he had expected Loki to respond but the understanding in the broken god's eyes was too much. Instead, Tony simply led Loki over to the couch, laid him down gently and went to get the first aid kit, water, and a towel.

"JARVIS?" Tony asked while he walked into the bathroom to grab a couple of towels.

"Bottom cabinet, on the far left," came the answer from the nearest speaker. Tony followed the directions and grabbed the first aide kit from where it was sitting and walked back into the living room.

Loki had not moved from his position on the couch, his eyes closed, and he almost looked as if he was asleep. It was only when Tony noticed how rapid the skinny gods chest was moving did the genius realize that Loki was trying not to panic.

"I got the stuff," Tony announced as he walked over to sit on the edge of the couch, careful not to touch the ebony haired man yet. As soon as the inventor spoke, Loki's eyes snapped open and his whole body tensed before Tony was identified and, while the god's muscles relaxed somewhat, the terrified alertness never left the sparkling green eyes.

It was only after the tenseness of the muscles dissipated almost completely that Tony moved to open the first aid kit, laying it across his lap before setting it aside in favor of the towels and water.

"I know you are hurt but before I can do anything to help I need to clean you up a bit," Tony explained as he poured water over one of the towels and moved to clean off the gods filthy hands and arms. He moved slowly, not wanting to startle the ebony haired man, and gently rubbed the grime away to reveal even more cuts and bruises.

Each new mark angered Tony more. It was inhumane to treat anyone this way, even murderers had rights, but it was unlikely that Loki had gotten these injuries from Asgard. Thor believed he was dead and so did the rest of the kingdom and, Tony assumed, the rest of the nine realms. Tony pushed the contemplations away and used warm, wet towels to wipe off the dirt, blood, and sweat from the hurt god's hands, arms, and, when Loki expressed no dissatisfaction, his neck and face.

Two destroyed towels later, an oddly complacent Loki was as clean as he could be without a shower or bath. Tony threw the filthy towels in a corner for the cleaning bots to pick up later and turned to the dozing god when he suddenly realized what he was doing.

Tony Stark was voluntarily inviting a known criminal that everyone thought was dead into his home and taking care of him, instead of turning him into the authorities like he should, and he didn't give a damn.

Because of finals it might take me a while but I'm hoping to update this story in the next two weeks or sooner. Wish me luck!

Please review!