A/N:
1) Sorry again for the long wait - Apparently I move, type, and live at less than half my usual speed with half the usual number of usable hands, though it certainly gives me a greater appreciation for the people who manage to keeo functioning with handicaps.
2)Sincere thanks for reviews,encouragement, and good advice goes to: EbonyWing, BlinkTed, Vitan, peppymint, cara-tanaka, Lancaeriel Peredhil, Beloved Daughter, Mel, Rowena Prince, EbonyWing, LoveOfPower, Nadia-91, and Ynath Esrith. As usual, I'll respond via PM to anyone I can.
Also, thanks for all the faves, alerts, etc, it is most encouraging.
3) This chapter takes place abut seven months after the last one... will update again ASAP!
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"I need to go back."…. It's what Loki has told himself every night when he looks up at the stars and thinks of the place he had once called home, but every morning when he begins a new day of living by the side of the mortal who loves him and is loved by him…. each time he sees the mortal smile or watches the boundless almost chaotic energy that fuels him in the midst of creativity which makes the mortal look so ….. alive, each time he nestles against the mortal's warmth and lets the steady beating of his heart soothe him to a peaceful sleep - now that it is no-loner a countdown to a certain death…. he finds himself deciding that Asgard can wait, because he is finally at peace, he belongs here, and does not want to leave this behind.
It is ironic perhaps that it has been just over seven months since Loki has started to wish for some kind of a reunion with his family, since he has started to miss Thor and to wish for closure with Odin…. and just over three weeks since his magic has finally become fully restored, but it has also been just over seven months since the dark shadow of imminent death had finally lifted away from Tony Stark… seven months of peace and un-tainted happiness, and Loki knows that he is not willing to simply let go.
And yet….. this peace is broken by fate itself, as Loki abruptly looks up from his perch by Pepper's side in the living room as he hears the unmistakable sound of footsteps in the house… and even from this distance, he knows they are not Tony's.
He tenses, preparing to return to his Aesir form and fight if needed, then relaxes again as the footsteps turn away from a still-oblivious Pepper and head towards the stairwell that leads to Tony's shop, because he knows that Tony is safe – at Stark Industries ironically – and that while this oblivious assassin is trying to over-ride Tony's security and get inside the shop where he assumes Tony to be (a truly ridiculous assumption in light of the fact that all the sound-proofing on Midgard cannot make a shop with Tony inside it that quiet), JARVIS will have already called in SHIELD who will handle the threat with ruthless efficiency, likely before Pepper is even aware of the intruder's existence.
Loki bristles slightly as he thinks of the very secretive organization which he still cannot help but distrust, despite the fact that they have proved to be of great service to Tony, for the simple reason that in the end-game he does not know whether they will prove to be 'good news' for his mortal friend or not – if he allows himself to borrow a Midgardian expression – but he relaxes when he thinks of the fact that regardless of their still not-entirely-transparent motives, in this moment SHIELD is decidedly extremely bad news for the assassin – and if he doubted it for a fraction of a second, he would handle the threat personally.
After all though Tony's friends were afforded some lenience by virtue of his affections for them, anyone else who presumed to hurt him or worse try to kill him would be made to pay, one way or the other.
Wanting to watch the inevitable showdown, as well as to enjoy watching a comparative-idiot's futile attempts at cracking Tony's security, Loki quietly pads down the stairs and settles in a corner, unable to suppress a purr of satisfaction as he watches the increasingly frustrated and clearly well-supplied assassin trying again to override the lock.
Making any sound at all proves to be a mistake when the assassin turns to look at him for a fraction of a second, but it is only a small mistake as the assassin dismisses him from any further consideration, and Loki cannot help but purr again as he gleefully thinks of how utterly wrong the assassin is in assuming him to be insignificant as a potential threat.
Still there is no reason to prove that point, entertaining as it might be, and Loki simply watches with amusement as the increasingly complex devices fail to elicit any response from the door, while he mentally counts down the seconds for SHIELD to come barging in with guns blazing.
Amusement turns to horror in a fraction of a second when Loki hears the unmistakable clicking of Pepper's heels on the stairs, and within seconds a high-power pistol is aimed at the location she is about to obliviously walk into.
With no time remaining for any more complex spells – not even one to cloak his use of magic, Loki leaps onto the stairs and taps into the power of the casket, using the momentary horror of the mortal before him at the sight of a cat with glowing red eyes as all the advantage he needs to let loose a blast of deadly cold as he hisses.
He could freeze the man solid, but that would be far to easy, too quick and far too merciful for someone who had come to kill his Tony, so instead he directs the blast at the hand holding the gun, and within seconds has frozen his entire arm.
It is with a final scream of pain and uncontrolled horror that the assassin collapses into unconsciousness, and fortunately perhaps, after a momentary glance at the situation – certainly not one long enough for her to figure out what happened – Pepper vaults back up the stairs to place her own call to SHIELD.
Quietly padding back up the stairs himself, Loki settles innocently in the living-room, trying to ignore the growing knot of tension in his stomach…. both because by now Heimdall will have likely detected his presence, and also perhaps more importantly though any stories of a frost-bite-administering-cat will be disregarded as hallucinations, there is some chance of Tony becoming suspicious…. and slim as it is, Loki had not planned on his great secret being laid bare this way…. and that is not considering the risks if SHIELD becomes suspicious.
He is pulled from his musings when the door is practically plowed through, not by SHIELD but by a very concerned Tony Stark who first looks to both Pepper and Loki to ascertain that they are both safe, and then while putting on his portable armor, asks on the verge of panic why Pepper had not answered the phone when he called to warn her – to inform her of the situation and tell her to grab Loki and get out, quietly.
Loki cannot help but marvel at the irony of the fact that for the first time in more than a year that he has been here, Pepper had forgotten to charge her cell-phone…. though he is completely un-surprised when Tony tells her he will have to build her one with a further miniaturized miniature-arc-reactor for power so that this does not happen again.
Visceral shock comes in the form of Tony's calm response to Pepper's confused and relieved revelation that whatever the reason, the assassin is presently very unconscious: "I know, JARVIS told me what happened." and Loki finds himself looking up at Tony to see if the mortal seems suspicious of him.
Whatever the answer to that question, Tony's features though seemingly calm are more inscrutable than ever before, and Loki cannot help but feel the tension within him growing…. even though some of it abates into relief when Tony descends the stairs, runs a scan of his would-be killer's medical condition, and very promptly opens his shop and carries out an enormous container of liquid helium, positioning it near the door and subsequently standing to the side as he opens the valve, releasing a blast which ices everything in its path.
From his viewpoint on the staircase, Loki knows that Tony is protecting him from the possibility of SHIELD's attentions becoming too focused on him by providing a far-more believable explanation for the severe frost-damage to the man's arm….. but he also knows that whatever JARVIS told Tony when he had apparently contacted him as well as SHIELD, was enough to make Tony feel that these precautions were necessary….. and the fact that this is not over, that while Tony will do everything he can to keep SHEILD in the dark, he at least knows that his cat is far from …. normal…. and will sooner than later have to be told the truth…. shakes Loki to the core.
He relaxes a little when Tony scoops him into his arms on the way up and relaxes some more when after removing the portable armor, Tony sits on the couch by Pepper's side, pulling both her and Loki close while instructing JARVIS to inform him if their 'unwelcome guest' shows any signs of waking…. yet Loki finds that he cannot escape the tangled chains of hopes and fears that run ceaselessly through his mind and constrict his heart…. because for all that he knew this day of truth was inevitable…. the reality of it is harder to bear than its eventual inevitability had been.
Moments later, SHIELD's forces arrive and begin their own investigation – thrown completely off the correct track by the tank of liquid helium and Tony's sarcastic mention that apparently one of the devices employed in a futile effort to override his lab's security system had – oh so unfortunately for its wielder – only succeeded in overriding the far inferior electronic valve on the helium tank, hence the irreparable damage to a limb.
Loki purrs softly, grateful for this blatant lie that is for the sole purpose of protecting him…. and though he does not know if Tony's love for him and trust in him can survive the truth…. he decides to cherish this moment while it lasts, and forcing his fears to the back of his mind, simply steps onto Tony's lap and lets his head rest against the mortal's chest, relaxing as Tony responds and gently cradles him close.
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