Tony looked Thor dead in the eye, declaring as if he was talking to someone who was slow, "You… are… out… of… your… mind." Thor opened his mouth to refute that, but Tony wasn't done, and he was suddenly screaming, "Construction on this tower was just completed. You smell that? That is the smell of fresh paint in my multi-million-dollar pet project, and you want me to let you drop Loki into it?! The rest of us have only just gotten settled in here; why would I throw him into the mix – or let him anywhere near me – or any of the team, for that matter?!"

"Because," Thor explained patiently. "It's apparently a part of the punishment that Father has decided on for him."

"Punishment for who, exactly?" Clint snapped from an air vent.

Thor's gaze shot towards the sound in confusion, forehead wrinkled in confusion, and Tony rolled his eyes, ordering, "Don't ask… but do tell me why your crazy brother wants this place for home base."

"From what little he'll tell me, Father's sent him with a bit of a… I believe you would call it a 'to-do' list, and Loki believes that this is the easiest base of operations for that. All he requires is sufficient sustenance and a room in which to sleep."

Tony stared at him for a long time, thinking the request through, before his eyes narrowed with an idea and he repeated, "A room. Alright. We can do that."

"Wonderful! Loki's waiting in the elevator."

Tony's eyes blew wide and his mouth opened to shout again, but he just as quickly thought better of it for once, slamming his mouth down into a thin line and saying with a sigh, "Of course he is. Go ahead and open the elevator, Jarvis – and next time warn a guy!"

"Of course, sir," the AI responded, and as the elevator opened he added, "My apologies. Perhaps I could suggest assigning Loki the final bedroom on Thor's floor?"

The one that didn't even have drywall, insulation sticking out everywhere… Tony grinned. "Perfect idea, Jarvis!" Loki stepped out of the elevator and Tony turned towards him, saying blandly, "Get back in the elevator, let Jarvis, the artificial intelligence – the voice in the walls – direct you to your room, and stay there until your whatever-job is done and you can get out of here. I don't want to see you around; the only reason you're here is because Point Break has the ability to ask for things more nicely then you do."

"You want to see me no more than I want to see you," Loki answered, grinding his teeth as he took the requested step backwards. When the doors were closed and the contraption moving once again, Loki muttered to himself, "Why am I doing this again?"

"Because you're smart enough to see it as the way out of a death sentence?" the wall answered.

Loki jumped, startled, before he remembered the AI that Stark had mentioned. Of course. "Indeed," Loki mused quietly. "Now all I have to do is decide where to start."

"It's my job to assist the residential residents of the Tower in any way I can should you require my assistance," the AI said. "Could I be of service in helping you make your decision?"

"Not if you're going to instantly report all of this back to your master."

"I do have the option of deleting from my memory conversations that I deem inappropriate for Mr. Stark."

"So you're saying that he wouldn't hear what I said?"

"I'm saying that I have the option to make it so that he didn't, yes, if I choose to employ that option."

"Is it possible," Loki asked dryly. "That you, the computer, are biased against me as well?"

"I'm much more than a computer, and Mr. Stark has made my programming quite thorough. When he says I have my own artificial intelligence, he means it."

"I will take that as an affirmative."

"Take it however you wish, the offer for assistance still stands." The doors to the elevator slid open and Jarvis declared, "We're currently alone on this floor. It was meant solely for your brother but has five bedrooms and three bathrooms in all. Your bedroom is the door at the back of the right hallway. I'm afraid there's not exactly any furniture in it yet."

"And yet you recommended it for me; you do hate me after all." Foregoing the idea of investigating his "room" for the moment, Loki folded himself onto the couch in the common room that the elevator had opened at and declared, "It wasn't my fault, you know."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Thanos controlled my mind much as I did Agent Barton's through Thanos' staff… yet Agent Barton walks free and forgiven and I am ordered to pay a price."

"I've already offered my assistance concerning whatever decision you say you have to make," the AI reminded. "I need information or orders in able to be able to do any more than that."

"Very well," Loki sighed, spilling the entire story – from finding out about his Jotun heritage to being sent here to "play matchmaker" – in a rush that left him breathless and heady and… feeling oddly better. He ended his tirade with, "In regards to my so-called mission, where would you suggest I start, Mr. Jarvis?"

"Where you're familiar," the AI replied. "With Agents Barton and Romanoff."

"And how exactly am I supposed to go about that?"

The AI paused for a beat, considering or computing or whatever it was that he did, until he asked, "To my knowledge, Agent Barton hasn't seen the footage of Agent Romanoff interrogating you."

"Why is that relevant?"

"She cried, didn't she? Maybe those tears were even shed for him? In any case, I've noticed that a woman's tears tend to move her soulmate. Perhaps that's the only push they need to sit down and just discuss their relationship?"

Loki dropped his head back against the couch, hoping that maybe it really would be that simple. He could be out of here a lot sooner that way.