Chapter 12: Lies and Truths

I'm baaaaack! :D
After a long pause, I'm finally back from my vacation (just returned an hour ago) and what do I do first after having eaten something? Yes that's right! I'm so nice and give you the long awaited chapter 12! And not just that but also 13 as well as the announcement that I finished the story while away - even if I believe that the last chapters are not as good as the previous ones I hope you can forgive me!

Anyway, enjoy! :)

The sudden silence that was greeting Tony was frightening, after the noise of the fighting it was also deafening and the sight that greeted him wasn't any better. They had thought that they had fought most of the Chitauri Army already but seeing the many ships and Leviathans in front of him, Tony couldn't help but be glad that someone had send a nuke to Manhattan since with its help they could destroy more of those monsters at once then the Avengers could combined.

Tony felt Loki's magic pulling him back to the opening of the portal and couldn't help but keep on watching as the nuke hit the main ship of the Chitauri fleet and exploded the darkness of space into bright colours of red and orange.

Then everything went dark and the last thing he felt was the gravity of Earth pulling him back when he was through the portal before it closed.

Loki knew that his brother would make it back through the portal before it closed, he was helping with his magic after all but the sight that greeted them all when Tony made it out stopped all their breath and for Loki even his heart; Tony pummelling to the ground without any resemblance of control! The Trickster God tried to use the last of his magic to slow his falling other half down but he was so drained from the battle that it did little good. Thor was already swinging Mjolnir to get into the air when the Hulk jumped past them and from the next highest building up in the air, catching Tony's limp body and landing safely next to the two gods and Captain America.

Hulk lowered Tony gently to the ground and Loki was next to him before you could blink as was Thor who pulled of the mask that was hiding Tony's face to see if their brother was still breathing – ignoring the surprised gasp the Captain let out – he wasn't. Loki nearly went hysterical at his the possibility of losing Tony again. He grabbed Tony's face between his hands and leaned over him.

"Please live! Please, you can't leave me alone again after I just got you back Bràthair!" Tears spilled out of Loki's eyes and onto Tony's still face. Thor lowered his head in sadness as did the Captain but the Hulk roared loudly and suddenly Tony's eyes jumped open and he gasp for air like fish for water. Loki let out a relieved laugh/sob as their eyes connected, he heard Thor cheer and thanking the beast for rescuing their brother but Loki didn't care for that in this moment, all that mattered was that his other half was here and alive.

"Don't do that again to me." 'Don't leave me again.' Tony gave his brother an exhausted but gentle smile, "I'm not planning to." Then he turned his attention to the rest of their audience (Hulk had turned back to Doctor Bruce Banner and Thor had handed him his cape to cover some parts) "Hey! How about some Shawarma, seeing that we won?" The Captain let out a disbelieving laugh, Banner smiled exhaustedly but nodded – transforming made him extremely hungry – and Thor just continued grinning like a fool.

Clint and Natasha joined them soon after. Clint nodded at Loki, signalling that he wasn't going to hold a grudge against the god for actions he couldn't control and then hugging his friend. "Glad you're alive shellhead."

"Thanks."

Natasha clapped Tony on the shoulder nodding.

"So, how about we hit the Director for telling us that lie?" Natasha asked, grinning evilly and Tony returned the grin with one of his own that made him look extremely evil even without his beard.
"Hell yes! Nick had no right to do that and when he learned his lesson we can still go eat something." The last part he said mostly for Banner but the other man was more concentrating on the "lie" part of the conversation than on the fact that they had just rescheduled the time food even if his body wanted some.

"What do mean with the Director telling us a lie? What lie?" The Captain asked as Tony – together with Loki and Thor at his left and Clint and Natasha at his right side and Banner trailing behind them – made his way to the tower where they would get a Quinjet that was hidden there, just in case, to get back to the Helicarrier.

"Phil Coulson is alive."

"What?! How is that possible, he was stabbed and what about the bloodied cards!?"

Loki winced at the mentioning of him stabbing the one person his brother so important – he had heard the love as Tony had said the name 'Phil' – but Tony just shot him a reassuring look and turned to answer the Captain.

"Under normal circumstances Phil probably would have died from the stab wound but he didn't and Nick took his trading cards, bloodied them and threw them in front of us to make us believe that he was dead so that we could come together through one cause."

They stepped into the tower and took the elevator up to the upper floors but before they could reach the highest floor, the elevator stopped and Yinsen – with a medical bag in hand – together with Happy – who was carrying a bag of fresh clothes for Tony – stepped into it nodding to Clint and Natasha and giving Tony a look that promised him that he wouldn't get away from a close examination for injuries. The other Avengers gave them puzzled looks but didn't comment instead Banner asked a question to clarify something. "What do you mean 'under normal circumstances', Tony?"

"Well" Tony took of the armour exchanging it for the clothes Happy handed to him and tried to explain "you see, Phil would have died if he hadn't worn the bracelet I gave him and before you ask, that is because the bracelet is more than a nice accessory since it is filled with magic, my magic to be precise. Before I was thrown of the Bifrost" Loki and Thor's head swivelled to him and they both frowned at that. What had really happened to their brother? Why had Odin lied to them? "I was a great magician and made it my hobby to engrave things with my magic so that they would have special powers. The bracelet I gave Phil was one of those things and it has the ability to heal the wearer even if he ha no magic of his own. I didn't remember that when I gave it to him but something made me do it and I believe it was my subconscious trying to tell me that it could protect him even when I can not." He smiled slightly as he said the last part.

They finally reached the top floor and everyone stepped out and walked towards the Quinjet, Happy claiming the pilot position and Natasha the co-pilot. Yinsen checked Tony and the others during the flight for injuries and treated them accordingly while also introducing himself to the rest of the team. When everyone was treated, Tony grabbed Yinsen and introduced him to Loki and Thor personally.

"Yinsen, these are my brothers: Thor, the God of Thunder and Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies as well as my twin. Thor, Loki, this is Yinsen – a good friend of mine."

Yinsen raised an eyebrow at the revelation. "Does this have anything to do with why your beard disappeared, your hair darkened and you looking younger?" Tony nodded and shrugged in his typical 'it's complicated' gesture.
"Pleasure to meet you, friend of Tony!" Thor boomed, happy to get to know people his brother made in his life on Midgard, while Loki just smiled at the other man.

"Pleasure to meet you too. I'm sure there will be enough time to explain what exactly has happened today." It wasn't a question but a statement and Tony knew that he wouldn't get out without a lot of explaining – not that he would try since they all deserved the truth – and so he nodded.
The rest of the flight was spent in silence and when they finally landed, Tony was leading them again just that this time Loki was walking in the middle so that the other Avengers (yes he was already part of their team in their minds) could shield him if needed.

SHIELD Agents that weren't busy repairing the damage done to the Helicarrier, stopped to stare at the group leaded by Tony Stark – without the Iron Man armour at his side.

No one stopped them, even when the stormed onto the bridge where Nick was overseeing the repairs being done, said man turned around to them as he heard them coming and you could see the relief on his face – if you knew what to look for – when his eyes fell on Tony. But before the Director could say anything Tony said, calmly, "Could we please talk to you in private, Nick?"
Fury saw the serious look on his godson's face and nodded. "In my office."

Again the group walked through the corridors but this time with SHIELD's Director leading.

Once the door closed behind them and Nick sat in his chair, Tony's face morphed from cool seriousness into anger and Nick knew he was so in trouble for what he had done – or tried to do. He was right because Tony closed the gap between them and punched Nick Fury in face, hard.

"What do you think you were doing, Fury? Telling us… telling me, that Phil 'died' and act as if it was no real big deal!"
At least Nick had the decency to look ashamed, after he had recovered from the shock that his godson had punched him, in the face (!). "I'm sorry Tony, I thought it would be the best way to bring you all together-" "By lying to us? Nick, when did you ever see a team holding together through lies? If a relationship is built on lies it's doomed to fail. You should know that!"

To the surprise of everyone, instead of telling Tony where to stick his little speech, he just said, "…You're right. I won't do it again."

"Good, see that you don't."

"…Now, could you please tell me why Loki is here with you, unrestrained and even in a protective circle consisting of all Avengers?"

"Loki is innocent because he was controlled just like Clint and he even help us in defeating the Chitauri, so don't even think about blaming my brother for things he had no control over!"

Nick held his hands up in the air in the 'I mean no harm' gesture at the threat in Tony's words but then asked, "Wait a moment, 'brother'? So you really are Thor and Loki's brother? Does that mean you remember your time before Maria found you?"

"Yes to all of your questions. But I will explain later. Now I want the location of one Phil Coulson and don't even think about telling me I'm not allowed to see him."

Nick stood up; it would be best to wait with his questions, especially if Tony was so worried about Phil at the moment. "Follow me."

And once again the Avengers, plus Yinsen, Happy and Fury, walked through the corridors of the Helicarrier. When they stopped in front of a door that led to a medical room where Phil was roomed to be resting, Tony was the first to be inside and made a beeline for the bed where the sleeping Agent was laying.

The sudden noise of people coming into the room woke Phil up and he opened his eyes to see who would disturb him. The sight that was greeting him was welcomed and slightly strange at once; Tony – without a beard and looking slightly younger (which was the strange thing) – was sitting on the edge of Phil's bed, a concerned expression on the younger man's face.

"Hey Tony." Phil whispered, wincing slightly in pain – the wound hadn't been fatal and it was healing quickly, which the doctors found strange but after today's happenings; what was strange anymore?

Tony immediately scooted closer at the sight of the wince and one of Tony's hands hovered over his wound while the other gently took the closest of Phil's hands.

"Phil… Do you trust me?"

The sudden question startled Phil who had expected at least a small kiss from his lover? Boyfriend? But he still didn't hesitate as he answered. "Of course."

The grip on his hand tightened a bit. "Even if I'm not what you think I am? Even if I am not Tony Stark, son of Maria and Howard Stark?"
Now Phil got the clue he needed to understand Tony's hesitance towards him; he was afraid that Phil would reject him if he wasn't human and instead of answering the Agent grabbed Tony's hand that had been hovering over the wound and pulled him closer, so close that their lips were almost touching. "Of course. Because no matter who or what you are, it doesn't change my feelings towards you." And as he said that he closed the gape to give Tony a kiss filled with his emotions towards the younger (or was it older) man.

Out of the corner of his eyes Phil could see the stunned looks of the Avengers – minus Clint, Natasha and Loki – and Fury, while Clint, Natasha, Happy and Yinsen just grinned at the sight. Well Natasha, Happy and Yinsen grinned while Clint let out a wolf whistle and Loki looked extremely guilty for hurting his brother's lover but at the same time seemed happy for his other half to have found someone.

When their lips parted Tony gave Phil such a brilliant smile that the Agent almost thought that he should be blinded by it and Phil immediately regretted it when he whipped of the smile with his next question, "So, why did you want to make sure of my thrust towards you?"

"…There are many things you don't know about me and most of them I didn't know myself before my brother and mine's magic clashed against each other. Which reminds me! Bràthair, come here for a moment."

Loki stepped closer toward Tony and Phil. "Phil, this is my other half, my Bràthair – brother – Loki, who is innocent of his actions by the way since he had been controlled just like Clint. Loki, this is Phil Coulson and the one who managed to steal my heart completely."

"It is an honour to meet you, Son of Coul and I have to apologize for injuring you."

"Please call me Phil and you don't have to apologize for anything just like Clint doesn't have to." They exchanged a look of understanding and Loki inclined his head while Phil returned his attention to Tony since he hadn't forgotten that Tony had tried to deflect their conversation into another direction.

"You aren't of the hook yet Tony, so explain."

Tony took a deep breath before continuing, "Well you know about my magic but because of events that I will explain later, my magic wasn't as strong as it should be and so I could only do small things. But thanks to the clash of magic that I already mentioned, the barriers broke which lead to me regaining my memory as well as my powers – even though they are still a bit out of balance of being locked up for twenty-seven years. Now, because I have my powers back I would like to heal you but I will only do so if you all-" "Do it." "Wha-?" "I said: do it. I trust you with everything I have so I will trust you to control your magic well enough to heal me." Tony gave him a small smile and nodded. Phil released one of Tony's hands and said hand returned to its place over the wound but this time it began to glow red and smoke like tendrils crept towards the wound.

The room was extremely silent, no one dared to even cough as Tony healed Phil and everyone stared fascinated at the sight before them – Loki and Thor even revelled in the feeling of their brother's magic near them.

After a few minutes the glow slowly dissipated and Phil took a deep breath without any signs of discomfort. Clint cheered at the sight as did Happy, Yinsen and the other Avengers while Loki and Thor looked proud of their family member and Nick patted Tony lightly on the back.

Tony gave them all an exhausted smile and got a 'thank you' kiss from Phil.
Suddenly a growl-like noise filled the room and Bruce's face turned a shade of embarrassed red while everyone else bursted out laughing (even Nick).

"Someone seems to have a hulk-hunger." Tony said, still laughing.

"Yeah well, someone promised some food some time ago." Bruce said back once he got over his embarrassment.

"I could need some food too." Clint quipped in and Natasha nodded in agreement, as did the others.

"Well then, how about Shawarma? I pay."

Everyone was okay with that – as long as it was food Bruce, Steve and Thor would have agreed with anything – and they slowly left the medical room. Tony just wanted to follow them when Phil grabbed him by his hand. "Tony, if it is alright I would like to learn your story – before Maria."

"…How about I will tell you – and everyone else – after we had something to eat? I don't want to destroy your appetite with some details."

Reluctantly Phil nodded and then after a few seconds of staring at each other he finally said, "Could you, maybe… you know." He waved his hand over himself, indicating the hospital gown he was still wearing and Tony grinned. "Sure." He snipped his fingers and the hospital clothes changes into comfortable jeans, shirt and also some sneakers (despite being healed it would be more comfortable to wear such clothes instead of a suit).

"Thank you."
"No problem. Can't have everyone see your nice ass after all."

He got a light punch at his arm for that but they both grinned as they left the room to join the others.

What do you think?