He was, of course, greeted by the cold gaze of Heimdall and a spear pointed at his throat. Any other time, Loki would laugh at the man for even thinking he could intimidate him, but now was not that time. Not with Anthony bleeding in his arms, and his magic weak from battle.

"My mother," he croaked, "get me to the queen, now."

If Heimdall wished to protest, he showed no sign of it. Instead, he simply dropped the spear tip and gestured to the bridge. As if he were expected, there were horses ready on the bridge.

But Loki frowned at them and said, "This will not be quick enough, he is... he is no longer breathing."

"They will move swiftly, trickster. Now focus and save your annoying lover."

Loki managed a faint smile at this, and leapt into the horses back with Stark over one shoulder. He didn't have time to worry about what the position was doing to the wounds, all would be healed soon.
He paused long enough to nod a silent thanks to the gatekeeper before kicking the horse into a run.

Heimdall did not lie, for the horse was faster than he could have imagined. The city drew close, and some of his worry started to unclench from his insides. As the castle grew closer, however, his anxiety began to grow once more.

Would they help him? He had done nothing to earn their aid, yet he came here immediately once he found he could not heal Tony. It was an act of desperation, to come crawling back to a place he was cast out from. His magic had been too weak, and Tony had gone too far, this time, for Loki to pull him back himself.

I promise to never go where you cannot reach me.

Was that not the promise they both gave, the last time they were here on Asgard? It was an oath Loki intended to keep, if only things would ever go his way. Just this once, if not for himself, than for Anthony's sake. Hadn't Loki done enough damage to this man's life, without taking it away from him as well?

Loki closed his eyes and felt for the light presence that he had grown to know and love. Tony would always be like a sun to him, warm and pleasant, and intriguingly dangerous at times. He reached out for it, and found little warmth left. It was but a pinprick of light in the cold, dark space. He was losing him.

Loki kicked the horse again, ignoring the startled whinny from the animal, and urged it on with all his heart. The horse leapt up the stairs, setting maids and slaves off screaming in surprise. The doors were already open, far more people than usual moving in and out in a steady flow. He cursed at them and ordered them out of his way, not caring for the uproar he had started. There were just too many people, and the horse could not get through without trampling them.

"Gagnslaus dýr, ykkar allra!"

He jumped from the horse's saddle, trying to force his pains to the back of his mind. As he began to force his way through the crowd, shouts went up, people gasping in horror at the blood pouring down his back and leaving a trail across the main hall. But Loki could not care less, he needed to find a healer or anyone who could help. Even if Odin protested, his mother would not. She still cared for him, she had protected both of them before.

"Loki!"

He turned and found Sif rushing towards him, her expression a mix of discomfort and concern.

"Where is my mother?" He demanded as soon as she drew close.

"What is going... is that the Man of Iron?" Her eyes trailed down to the floor behind him and her face paled instantly. "Oh Hel, you must hurry is he is bleeding like that."

Loki grimaced and tightened his grip on Anthony a little more. "He has lost more than this, it must be my mother. Only she can help him."

Sif nodded and spun on her heel, yelling for people to move out of the way for them and leading Loki out of the hall. The corridors were just as full as the larger halls, bustling with servants who carried a wide assortment of celebratory decorations.

"What have I returned to?" Loki asked, barely able to keep from panting in exhaustion.

She was pushing aside a startled maid before she asked, "Did you forget already?"

Loki gave her a steady glare and shifted his lover's body slightly. "You might have noticed, I have been a little preoccupied as of late."

Sif continued on, not bothering to look back. "You're yearly date of return has come and passed. Although you might not be as welcomed by some, your father seems to be eager for it. Did you not get the invitation for your return, in all your... preoccupation?"

Loki nearly stopped in his tracks a the realization. He had completely forgotten everything to do with the trial, his promise to the Allfather. The dampness of his back reminded him of why such things meant so little to him as of late.

"It's not important, now," he said quietly, and carried onwards to find his mother.

"Loki, my son, please give me space."

"I am hardly in the way, I only—"

"You are hovering," she interrupted softly, straightening up to meet his worried eyes, "my love, you cannot heal him but you must trust me to. Please..."

Loki held her gaze for quite some time before shifting away to the side of the room. His eyes returned to where Tony was laid out on a table, surrounded by flowing colors and light. Only, there was one coloring missing, and Loki knew exactly what that meant.

"It's too late, isn't it?" He whispered, unable to look away from the battered, pale face of his lover.

"Not yet," Frigga answered, leaning over the body holding a sprig of mistletoe and a small chalice of wine. "No, son, not just yet. I shall return with him soon."

Loki smiled sadly at the objects in her hand. "Please greet her for me."

"Of course." And with that, she was gone.

Loki worried his lip, and was unable to keep the tremors from his hands as he approached the table to look down. He would have to wait, he had to trust his mother with his lover's life. He loved her, of course, yet trust was never a thing that came easily to him. It was something else though, a sort of possessiveness over Anthony's life. It was his to protect, his to cherish. Letting that control fall to another felt wrong in ways he could not explain. Perhaps it was the bond that was heightening the strength of his feelings, or perhaps it was just love.

Loki smiled faintly to himself, his hand caressing the side of Tony's cold face.

When have I become so comfortable with that word?
'Love'
Used all too easily for a mortal I should have never even met. I should never have been allowed love, not a long like this. Soul mates are so rare in the Nine Realms, yet I find mine in an enemy? Perhaps fate was on my side for once, not the manipulative monster from the void.

But what of now? In the darkest moments, how could one not question or curse fate? What a thing it was, to craft such kindness and to wreak such cruelty.

Loki ran a shaking hand through Tony's grime ridden hair and prayed for the first time in years for fate to let him keep this one kindness.

Frigga let out a breath as she crossed from her realm into a quiet, dark place. She had journeyed here many times before, but the ache in her heart could never be heavier. She saw death in Loki's eyes, a promise of it to others and perhaps even to himself. Anthony Stark could not die, for Frigga feared the end of days would come of it. She knew it was selfish, this desire to save him for Loki rather than himself, but she refused to let her son be a tool of Ragnarok. She would fight for him, and for his lover's life.

So, with her lips set firmly, she strode through the only door to be found and went to find the queen of Hel.

Somewhere in the time she was gone, Loki had crawled up on the table and fallen asleep. He was curled up with his arms around Anthony, so careful of the body he knew was without life. He seemed not to care for the blood and mess he was laying in, only to be close to the man he loved. Frigga smiled down at her son, seeing for the first time in a long while the small child she had raised so dearly as her own.

Her smile grew sad as she touched his shoulder gently to rouse him from what would be his only rest for hours, possibly days. "Loki... it is time to wake up."

Loki jerked awake violently and sat up, turning his sleepy gaze to her. She startled a little at the sight of his face, half smeared in blood. "Have you returned with him?" he asked in a fearful whisper.

"Yes and no," she replied quietly, unsure of how to broach the subject. "She set some terms that we must meet before she will allow his soul to be free of her."

The breath Loki held was forced from him, and the calm front he created over himself shattered.

"SHE WOULD DO THIS? TO ME?!" he screamed in rage and despair.

Frigga pressed forward, laying her hands on his heaving shoulders as he gasped for air. "Calm your self, my love. There are rules that none of us may break, you knew this." She touched his cheek and ran her thumb across it in a soothing gesture. "You knew there would be a price to pay. That is always the way."

"What if I cannot pay it?" Loki croaked, his eyes wide and wet with unshed tears. "Mother, what must I do?"

Frigga's smile returned as she turned away to look at the still mortal beside her son. "It is not what you must do, but he."

Loki stilled, his anger leaving him for surprise and confusion. "What will happen?" He asked slowly, his eyes joining hers on Anthony.

"It is already happening, my love," she answered, one hand tightening on his shoulder, "and it is something he must do alone."

Tony woke up completely confused, hungry, and of course horny. The hungry and horny parts were part of his typical morning routine, but the overwhelming confusion was not. He just couldn't shake the feeling that he had forgotten something really important.

Really fucking important.

Tony scowled down at his sheets and tried to remember what it was. Was there a meeting today? Something to do with the company, maybe. No, Pepper had him clear for today. Today was just for them.

His scowl faded as he went over his plans for the day. It was going to be perfect, of course. First, a short visit to little Italian bakery for breakfast, then on to a walk out in the state park. Not his usual thing, but he could swing it to make his love happy. After that, a picnic by the lake in said park, after he had carefully paid off everyone to fuck off for the day so they could have the area to themselves. Because, it had to be perfect.

Then, they would finish off the day with a garden-rooftop dinner. Red wine, stars, something not his usual AC/DC playing. Probably some violins or something. It would be perfect. I had to be perfect.

Tony turned to the, still quite asleep, body sprawled out next to him. Today was going to be perfect, because how else could you describe the day you purpose to a god?

Loki woke up several minutes later when Tony started tickling his back. Of course Loki didn't know what he had in store for him today, he only knew that Tony had a day off and they were damn well spending it together.

So, they set off for the cafe where Tony bought him his favorite little chocolate mice. He cracked jokes about Loki and what a cat he was. He got a playful glare and spent the next hour forced to keep himself in check because Loki decided to give himself cat ears and a tail as revenge. As revenges go, Tony would have to place that as the top-most dangerous one he had had the pleasure of experiencing. He finally had to ask him to put them away before he pulled the car over and ravished him on the side of the highway.

They arrived at the park in good spirits, and Tony found he was hungry and horny again.

Really, there should be more to my life than eating and sex.
No, maybe that's fine. There's enough serious stuff in between, right?

Like asking this bastard to marry me.

The park was clear of people just as he planned it, and if Loki noticed, he didn't comment on it. He just ate, and laughed and pushed Tony into the lake.

So, still perfect, if not a little damp, he drove them back to the city. The trip back was quieter than the trip out, and Tony had a feeling Loki was figuring out the meaning of their date today. Which wasn't all bad, but the silence was a little unnerving.

Silence could mean anything. He could know Tony's plan to propose, and be trying to figure out how to let him down gently. He could be considering the idea, and hating it so much he's just waiting to yell, 'no!'. Maybe he didn't even know, and just needed a bathroom break.

Or maybe, the hopeful part of Tony's brain provided, maybe Loki was happy at the thought.

He spent the rest of the trip back fretting and fidgeting with the box in his pocket every other mile. Tony forced a smile back on his face when they returned at last to the city. Loki had finally inquired as to what Tony had lined up for the rest of the evening, which put some of his worries to rest. At least he seemed interested.

The sunset was perfect, the view of the city below them aglow with red and purple hues. Loki looked stunning in the light, wearing a simple black suit with a red tie. It was a sight Tony didn't see as often as he'd like, mostly because as soon as he saw Loki in a suit, he took it off of the god soon after. Tony decided, in a fit of romance, to steal on of Loki's green ties to compliment his own dusty, gray suit. The look it earned him was worth it, and he commented on what a bunch of sappy idiots they were.

The dinner was almost perfect, if the chef hadn't forgotten Loki's favorite dessert, only slightly ruining the lead up to the Question.

Tony was sweating at this point, the dinner in his stomach turning with his rising nerves. So much relied on this moment, everything really. His whole life had changed with Loki, and there was no going back now.

Falling through a portal together, discovering all the lies and betrayals that haunted their lives, and between it all, somehow discovering that they meant something to one another. But it was more than that, so much more. It wasn't even finding out that they were soul mates, or that they had their very own evil-Cupid. It was the discovery that there was already a niche in both of their lives that the other was meant for. A gap that was just the right shape for Loki to fill. He was something he never knew he needed in his life, and now he was someone who Tony couldn't live without.

So today, like every day, Loki was going to change his life.

He cleared his throat, looking across the table at his devilishly handsome boyfriend. He really didn't want to get down on one knee, because that was about five levels of awkward right there. Considering how they met, and how damn short he was, it would feel like a big joke. But it was time honored tradition, so he stood up and shuffled over to Loki, undoubtably making things more awkward by hovering over his chair.

Loki gave him a bemused smile and turned in his seat. His eyes were a brighter green than Tony had ever seen them before, and Tony already knew his answer.

With a deep breath, Tony got down on one knee, pulled out the small, velvet box, and asked Loki to marry him.

It was 242 days, 16 minutes, and 12 seconds later that Tony got the call about Clint. 242 days that went by too quickly to realize what he would miss. One moment it was their wedding, celebrated by everyone as loudly as possible. Then it was the honeymoon trip, which no other could even compare. Because, really, who else gets to travel all the nine realms in princely style? Well, maybe Jane if she ever decided to stick around with Thor. She still hadn't gotten back to him on that, especially after the call.

It came in the morning, so obviously Tony wasn't going to answer it. Loki did, however, and the crash that came afterwards got Tony right out of bed and down the hall to the living room in a second. When he reached the living room, mid shout for Loki's well being, he saw both Pepper and Loki sitting on the floor looking pale. He didn't even need to ask what was wrong, because there was only one thing that could shake those two up so badly.

The funeral was short, painful, and inappropriately sunny. Tony gave a funny speech that ended far more seriously than he intended, and he was vaguely aware of Natasha lurking somewhere in the back, before she was gone. If he had known that would be the last time he would see her for the next twenty years, he would have said good bye. The next time they met, he was in Russia for a business meeting. She looked right past him and kept on walking.

Something changed, and it wasn't just the Avengers. Lacking two of their members, missions had become difficult to handle, especially with a new mage on the loose. The more difficult part was when one of them would still call out Clint or Natasha's name mid-battle, giving them instructions before trailing off in horror at their own mistake.

It broke Bruce, in the end. Then again, maybe it was the way he was aging, when Tony was not. Or the fact that his life was shortened every single time he changed into Hulk.

Tony was the one by his side, the day they found out about his condition. That past month they had really began to dig in and push all of Bruce's buttons. The experiments had been fun at first, and Hulk had started to build up a weirdly strong friendship with Tony. They actually conversed, which was something for the public record.

But then Bruce would come back weak and shaky for longer and longer bouts of time after the change. Then one day it was more than the shakes, it was a heart attack. Tony got him into the hospital in time, but one thing was made clear. If he turned into the Hulk again, he would die. After that, Bruce packed his things and disappeared. Really disappeared this time, because Tony had been able to keep tabs on him until now. This time, he friend was just gone.

What was left of the team after that? Just Tony and Steve, struggling to handle things far to big for two people. Thor had gone back to Asgard to help Odin with some sort of new war going on. Loki had gone for a few months as well, and that had been the hardest part. It was the first time, since Tony had been kidnapped, that they were apart for such a long time. It didn't help that it left Tony and Steve on their own to handle things Earth-side.

When he returned, Loki helped them out as much as possible. But he wasn't always there, and sometimes Tony didn't want him to be. He didn't like seeing Loki out there, hidden behind a different face, fighting for people who would never know what he was doing for them. What he buried behind that mask to save a race he had once tried to rule. They both knew, though, that people would not be happy to know just who it was who pulled them from the fire.

It was hard, for a while. Ten more years and they heard about Fury's death. They had already missed the funeral by the time they heard the news, and they weren't sure if they would have been welcome there anyway. For Tony, it really signified the end of something, something he saw coming for Steve as well.

It was hard, sitting by the soldier's bed instead of standing at his side in battle. Tony wanted to scream at him to get up, to move around, to kill another punching bag. But he couldn't anymore, not after that last attack and left him bed ridden. He was aging, like the time he had successfully avoided was finally catching up to him. Loki had tried to counteract the mage's spell, but couldn't do anything in the end. Different magic, not enough time.

And Steve? He looked at Tony with sad eyes as he grew weaker and weaker. Of all the people in the world, Steve Rogers was the one Tony still strived to not disappoint. It was to the point of irrational, so he did his best to take over the fight all on his own, leaving Loki there to try to save the solider again and again. But every time he came back to visit, battered and sporting a fake smile, Steve would just stare at him sadly.

It was three days after their uncelebrated wedding anniversary, that he got the call. He was there, this time, for the passing of another friend. Those paled, blue eyes stayed on him the entire time, until Steve said, "I'm sorry, you will be lonely," and closed them for a final time.

By the time Pepper passed away, Tony already had this hollow area inside that grew another fraction of an inch every time he got the call for someone else he loved. He had lived through it all, Rodney, Happy, all of the avengers save Thor. But Pepper, she was the straw that broke his back. Pepper had always been there, even as her hair turned white and she switched her heels out for Velcro shoes.

Something inside of his genius brain just stopped. It reverted right back to when he was five, when he didn't believe that the candy was all gone, because how could such a thing be possible?

How could a world without Pepper be possible? It couldn't.

Loki decided to take him away, now that his last connection on Earth had ceased to exist. They went to Asgard for a long while, spending time with just one another. It was wonderful, and he started to forget their faces a little, just enough to smile again. After another year spent lounging around the palace, Thor left and came home again carrying his own grief.

Jane never said yes to the apple, and Tony couldn't help but feel guilty about it. He had served as a prime example of just what happened to a mortal giving immortality. Loneliness. Loss, and just... loneliness.

He had tried to explain it better to Loki, who did his best to understand. Loki would see loss, over his thousands of years. Loss in battle, unjust and careless. But he did not get to see lifetimes span out in front of him and end. He did not have to watch his friends die a fair, and natural death. Because there's no place for revenge when someone dies of old age. Just sadness and another empty spot in your heart that cold not be filled, not even with rage.

Thor's return signified another end, and this time Tony didn't see it coming. His own mind cracked, just a little. Loki started finding him in small places, muttering about algorithms and physics until the god would drag him back to bed and tuck him in. Tony could see the fear in his husband's eyes every time he found him, but he still could not tell why.

He stopped being himself sometime after that, and for a while, there was nothing. It took far too many years, and even more of Loki's desperate tears to bring him back again. It was a painful journey for both of them, but when he finally recognized the face in front of him, it was damn well worth it. Because, in the end, Steve was wrong.

He wasn't alone, even if almost everyone he loved was gone. He would be okay, because he still remembered them, and he still had Loki.

He would always have Loki.

He would be okay.

So, Tony woke up.