Hi everyone! I am so happy that so many of you are sticking with this story, even with my crazy posting schedule that isn't really a schedule. I am really hope everyone like this chapter.

Not mine, never mine, usual disclaimers

So what if the two had gravitated towards each other in their sleep, Stark seeking the coolness and Loki the warmth, and they ended up wrapped around each other.

They both slept soundly for the first time in years.

o~*+*~o

Awareness came to Tony slowly. Very slowly.

The first thing that actually registered was that, for the first time in possibly forever, he was comfortably cool in bed. Normally he would be soaked with sweat from sleeping under the covers all night, sometimes from nightmares and sometimes from the heat of the arc reactor, but oddly enough he wasn't. For some reason this didn't really register as strange but only as a very good thing that should not be questioned.

Tony grabbed at the blessed coolness and moved closer to it, trying to bring the cold inside of him. It was so nice to not be burning on the inside after such an eventful day. It wasn't all that bad, the arc reactor had been modified multiple times so it have off far less heat than before but it still warmed his blood by a couple of degrees at least. The problem was that his body now depended on the warmth of the reactor and had adapted to the heat so that it would be impossible to completely remove the heat source lodged deep in his chest.

Having a heating device inside his chest that his body now depended on meant that any cooling factor needed to be external but just lowering the ambient temperature in the room didn't solve it. What Tony really needed was a ring that went around the reactor and cooled the skin around it to the perfect temperature without freezing the rest of him. Something like the wonderful cold that was so close to him now.

Tony never wanted to wake up because that would mean leaving the coolness that surrounded him.

As Tony struggled to retain the final dregs of a good nights sleep he realized that the cold was moving and speaking. Suddenly, Tony wanted to wake up a lot more. And then the memories returned.

Tony's eyes snapped open to lock with the brilliant green orbs above him, the sight oddly clear for just waking up. It was curious that Loki hadn't moved and found another place to sleep instead of staying with him but the inventor had to be grateful for the gods lower core temperature because it was the perfect cure for the act reactors heat and nightmares. Which made sense because most of his nightmares involved the deserts.

For a moment neither of them moved, both mortal and god simply staring at each other before Tony realized the position they were in. Sometime during the night he must have moved towards the coolness that Loki seemed to emanate and unconsciously try and wrap himself around it to keep cool. The result was Tony with his arms wrapped around Loki's waist, his head on the god's chest, and his legs intertwined with the other man's. The funny thing was that Loki had his arms wrapped around Tony as well.

It was because of those arms around him and the fact that Loki hadn't run by now that made Tony move closer, resting his head against the cool chest and close his eyes again with a smile. After all, why would he move away now when he was comfortable?

"Did you know," Tony murmured lazily, "that you make a fantastic pillow?" By the pause afterwards it was obvious that Loki did not know that he made a fantastic pillow. "Well, you do."

"Thank you?" The uncertain reply almost made Tony laugh but when he opened his mouth to comment on the oddity he was quickly interrupted.

"Sorry sir, but if you will recall you left an open invitation for Dr. Banner to visit the tower whenever he wished." It took a moment for it to register that yes, he had given out that invitation, and he would likely have to get up to meet the man.

"Is he here now? Do I have to get up?" Tony really wanted to do science with Bruce but that meant leaving this wonderful coolness. It didn't matter that it was Loki, what mattered was it felt good.

"He is entering the building now." JARVIS was the most advanced AI in existence but he had the worst timing ever.

"Shit!" Tony jumped out of bed with every intention of rushing down to intercept Bruce before he ever figured out what was up here when he stopped and looked down at his bare chest where the arc reactor glowed brightly and the rumpled dress pants.

It probably wouldn't be the best idea to meet Bruce and try to convince him to stay in the tower and do science with him while shirtless and wearing wrinkled dress pants, it didn't set the right image.

The first thing Tiny needed was a shirt, but knowing his luck the shirt he wore yesterday was tangled up in the sheets where he and Loki had slept. There was no way he could find it and still have enough time to stop Bruce from finding him. On second though, the look on Bruce's face when he saw him and Loki on the same bed together would be priceless, at least until he went green and started destroying everything.

Loki didn't move the entire time that Tony scrambled around the room trying to find a shirt to wear. Tony didn't know if it was because the god found it funny to see the mortal run around like an idiot looking for a shirt or because it finally registered that Bruce Banner was the green beast that had taken him down last time.

Either way it was unlikely that Loki would bother leaving the safety of the room so, cursing under his breath, Tony rushed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Hopefully that got the message across to the injured god not to leave the room.

"I would suggest trying the last door on the right and sir?"

"What, now?" Tony grumbled as he pulled on his worn AC/DC shirt, the first thing he had grabbed from the closet, that perfectly complemented the rumpled dress pants. Not really, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances.

"Dr. Banner is in the elevator and is on his way up."

There was nothing that could possibly make this morning or afternoon or whatever and crazier.

"JARVIS, please tell me that Loki is still in the room." If there was one thing that needed to go right it had to be that. Bruce finding out that he was harboring Loki, the former war criminal that everyone believed was dead, there would be no way to convince the man to work with him. Plus the tower, Loki, and likely himself would be pummeled by the Hulk.

"Yes, he has remained the room and has in fact not moved since your departure. I have attempted to ascertain his condition but-"

"Not now Jarv! Where is Bruce?"

"He is arriving now." Just as JARVIS finished speaking, the elevators doors opened and deposited Bruce out. The doctor took in Tony's mismatched clothes in confusion before dismissing it with a slight shake of his head. Sometimes it was good to be the eccentric billionaire that plays by no rules. People questioned you less.

"So you finally took me up on my offer, what took you so long?" Tony asked as he pulled Bruce into a short embrace. There was a weary smile on Bruce's face as he explained.

"After what everything that happened, I guess I just needed some space. For a couple of weeks it was alright but then SHIELD came back. I noticed I was being followed again and kept moving to try and deter them but nothing did.

"It took a while before the news about SHIELD being infested with HYDRA members for decades reached the village I had been living in. After it did, that was it. I am done with SHIELD or HYDRA or whatever the next big "secret" spy corporation holds the worlds secrets."

"Amen to that." Though for Tony, he was never with the whole "secret" spy thing anyways. Growing up he had quickly learned not to trust anyone unless they gave you a reason to and even then to be wary. SHIELD had never given him any reason to trust them and, if anything, they had given him multiple reasons to not trust them. The Battle of Manhattan and the events leading to it only reinforced that idea. Tony could understand, if nothing else, the privacy and freedom that Bruce had been lacking. He himself had had that for a while too.

"I still don't feel comfortable being here in New York with so many people around that could get hurt but your security is the best of the best. I figured that, at least here, SHIELD, HYDRA, whatever will not be able to monitor me and there is the additional incentive of the lab with all the bells and whistles."

Just from the light that came into Bruce's eyes Tony could tell that it had been a fantastic idea to invite Bruce here. The man had a true passion for science and Tony could only hope that the other scientist would be able to keep up with him.

"Labs." There was absolutely nothing Tony could do to keep the smirk off of his face.

"What?"

"Labs. Not just one candy land but multiple. I knew you would take me up on my offer one day so when the tower had to be remodeled I added a lab specifically for you." The stunned look on Bruce's face was all Tony needed to know that building Bruce's lab would be so worth it.

"Tony, really, you shouldn't have. I don't-"

"Don't you dare say that you don't deserve it because the is not true! You are one of the Avengers that stopped the invasion and the one that saves my life when I was falling through the sky."

"Technically that wasn't me, it was the other guy." Tony rolled his eyes at the utterly predictable statement. Really, Bruce was so afraid of the Hulk that we would deny anything that he did, be it good or bad. It was sad to see such a smart man ignore such a large part of himself.

"Technically the other guy is you."

"A part of me that I have next to no control over, a part of me that kills, a part of me I can't trust." All Tony could think of when Bruce was talking was how Bruce sounded like he had given up and didn't want to try to trust the Hulk.

"The big guy saved my life, I would say that is a step to being a trustworthy individual, which the Hulk is." Tony held his hands up to stop Bruce just as he opened his mouth to discredit his claim.

"No matter how much you deny it and try to suppress him, the Hulk is still there as a part of you. He saved you from dying a painful death from radiation poisoning and has likely saved you more that that. All you need to do to stop the Hulk from being unpredictable is to either let him out to play more or to work with him instead of against him."

Bruce locked eyes with Tony and sighed deeply. "I guess I just don't trust myself the same was you seem to trust me." It was sad that he brilliant doctors self confidence levels were so low so Tony told him that but Bruce only shrugged it off and changed the subject.

"So where are these amazing labs that you were bragging about?" If there was ever a question to ask that would distract Tony it would be that. Tony's face lit up with an almost manic energy before he dragged the unwitting doctor back into the elevator.

"Take us down JARVIS." At the command the doors closed and the two scientists were taken down to lab levels, discussing their work all the while.

Neither man noticed the green eyes that glittered even in the shadows, listening in on the entire conversation. The door had already closed by the time Loki stepped out into the light with a confused look on his face. Only JARVIS was witness when Loki pressed the button to the second elevator to take him down.

After a moment's hesitation it did just that.

I had so much fun with making Tony wake up really, really slow and then asking him run around like crazy for a shirt before meeting Bruce. I hope everyone liked the introduction of Bruce into the story and I promise that the other avengers will show up eventually.
I apologize in advance for those people who really like Captain America. Trust me, I like him too but for the stories sake Tony doesn't like Steve because Steve doesn't understand Tony so... There will be some Captain America bashing but not a lot. I will figure that out when I get there.
Any suggestions for how the next Avenger should come into Tony and Loki"s lives would be fantastic. I'm thinking Hawkeye should be next because Black Widow would follow him, or maybe the other way round. Any who, I'm planning on leaving Steve for last unless anyone has a spectacular idea on how to get him to show up.

Please review!