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Chapter 3

"Come on Tasha it will be fun," Clint pleaded, tugging on Natasha's arm.

She looked up at him from her place on the sofa and sighed deeply, giving up all hope for a peaceful morning.

"Fine we'll go but if you all get drunk off your faces I won't be dragging you back here."

"Who's dragging what where?" Tony asked, strutting into the living room where all the other Avengers were gathered.

He flopped down next to Steve who shifted over to make room. Being late morning the team had nothing better to do with their time. None of them had been assigned any missions by Fury so they were all having a lazy day just relaxing and talking.

"We are all going out tonight, to a bar or something. Natasha was saying that if you get drunk you can crawl home alone," Steve answered.

Tony shrugged then rested his head back against the sofa. His plan for a relaxing sleep last night had not gone totally how he wanted it to. Instead he had been kept awake by his mind continually trying to work out Thor's answer. When his mind had reached a level of exhaustion even it couldn't fight, Tony had dropped into a world of strange dreams, all containing a certain god with startlingly green eyes.

Some of the dreams had been the usual average run of the mill thing where he was just talking or working and Loki happened to appear, while others were strange but hazy. He could only remember short scenes of two bodies pushing against each other, fighting for dominance, their mouths locked together in a furious battle trying to break the others control. Hands running over the others body moving tortuously slow as they made their way lower.

Tony had awoken abruptly and sat up panting. Cold sweat covered his body in a thin layer causing him to shiver. Thinking there was no chance of him sleeping now, he climbed out of bed and hurried into his bathroom ordering JARVIS to switch the shower on. He hoped the water would wash all memories of the dreams away down the plughole so there would be no need to panic. Of course, it didn't work.

However, the shower had calmed his nerves. So when he dried himself and pulled on some clothes he was no longer shaking and when he glanced at himself in the mirror he looked entirely normal.

"If it is okay with all of you I would like to invite my brother along. It would be good for him to go out and possibly have fun," Thor said, distracting Tony from his musings.

"Yeah invite him. It would be nice to see him actually smile for once and it will make up the numbers because Bruce can't come," Steve replied, grinning widely.

Natasha nodded in agreement while Clint shrugged, not really caring if Loki joins them. Then something seemed to click into place in his head and he suddenly looked over at Tony, smirking slightly.

"Tony, go and tell Loki will you."

Tony stared at Clint before answering, "Uh no. Last time I went in his room he had a hissy fit and I would rather not repeat that." Obviously he wasn't going to tell them he walked in while the god was nearly naked.

"It will give you a chance to mend the bond between you," the archer replied sarcastically.

He considered this for a second and thought that it would be a good time to question Loki about the whole frozen heart incident. That was something he definitely wanted to do away from the others, especially if Loki acted the way he did before.

"Fine then," He huffed, feigning exasperation. "But if I die you can explain to Fury why his best man can no longer defend the world."

Clint just waved his hand at Tony before watching him exit the room, a grin plastered firmly back on his face. After he was out of earshot Natasha turned her gaze on Clint.

"If you keep being that obvious he will notice something. No matter how much we deny it, he is a genius."

The archer shifted next to her and draped his arm over her shoulders. Leaning in he pressed a kiss lightly to her cheek then answered, "That's the point, being a genius he thinks too much into stuff so he will never notice anything so obvious."

The room was colder than he would have liked but Loki couldn't bring himself to ask Tony about warming it. Was it really that hard to talk to the genius? His answer was yes. And he definitely wasn't going to talk to Tony after what happened the last time.

He shouldn't have let those words get to him. Tony hadn't known what they meant so it should have been easy to ignore and pretend that it meant nothing. But the snipe at hit him somewhere that he hadn't known existed. It was somewhere that stored all those feelings of not belonging, about being different, about not being accepted. He had not thought about those feelings for a long time and now they were back.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Loki shuffled back on his bed and pulled the cover up and draped it over himself. Settling down he reached over to the small table beside him and picked up the book Tony had given back. He flicked the clasp open with ease before sitting back against the pillows.

With the duvet now wrapped around him, Loki soon began to relax as the warmth washed over him. There was a knock on his door. Assuming it to be Thor, he ignored it as it wasn't likely to be something important. After a few seconds of silence there was another knock. Obviously Thor wasn't giving up.

Being warm now Loki couldn't bring himself to move and answer the door. However the knocking continued for another minute which started to annoy him. Thor must think that whatever he has to say this time is very important, Loki thought to himself. His thought was interrupted by another, more forceful, knock.

"What in Valhalla is so important Thor?" He shouted

Taking that answer as an invitation inside, the door opened revealing Tony Stark.

"Er sorry to disappoint but I'm not Thor."

Closing the book and sitting up a little straighter, Loki looked over the man before him with scrutinizing eyes. He wore very simple clothes, old jeans and a faded black shirt with a ridiculous print on the front for something called Black Sabbath. Whatever the hell that was. Still the clothes fit well and Loki couldn't help admitting they looked good.

The god thought it best not to continue staring, so instead switched his gaze to the man's face.

"What do you want, Stark?"

Tony edged further into the room so he was able to push up the door before turning back to Loki and answering. "We're all going out tonight and we wondered if you wanted to come." Where was all this we coming from? It had definitely been Thor's idea, not anyone else's.

He expected Loki to laugh at him and say no or else yell at him to get out again. Instead an expression of thoughtfulness crossed the god's face then a small smile formed on his lips and he nodded.

"I shall join you on this evening. It sounds to be quite an interesting event, let's hope the outcomes are just as entertaining."

"Right," Tony said, wondering if there was a secret meaning behind that that he didn't know. In a way he didn't want to know.

"Was there anything else?" Loki asked, watching Tony shift his weight from foot to foot.

The genius met his green eyes with his own coffee brown pair for a second before breaking the contact and taking a tentative step closer. "Yeah there was something else," He began, trying not to focus on the way Loki's body adjusted to himself moving closer. "The other day when I said about the frozen heart thing...well I just wondered what the hell that was about. I asked Thor and-"

"What did he say?" Loki cut in sharply.

"He told me I should ask you myself and then he just started to say all this stuff that made no sense so yeah. I thought I should ask you."

"Do you care Stark?" The god asked after a few seconds.

Tony was taken aback by the question and so didn't reply for a while. With an unreadable expression on his face, Loki observed him closely as though looking for something in Tony's own expression that could not be clearly seen.

"About you? No, not really. I just like to know stuff. That's what comes with being a genius, always wanting to know everything-"

Loki raised a hand to silence his ramblings then began to talk himself. "So you do not believe us to be friends nor have any connection to one another." Not knowing where this was going, Tony shook his head. "And yet you still expect me to answer a personal question that has no relevance to you what so ever."

Having nothing to say in reply, Tony just watched dumbly as Loki shifted on the bed and got to his feet so he was standing just in front of him. Being over six ft tall he was at least a head taller than Tony making him feel rather intimidated. Some thought in the back his mind, though, was telling him how good and exhilarating it was to be standing so close to the god of mischief. Thinking it best to bury that thought, Tony looked up into his face. Well that was a mistake.

From this angle he could see every line of his jaw that curved up into high set cheekbones. His pale skin seemed as smooth as marble and Tony had to fight against his urge to reach out and brush his fingers over it. But Loki's eyes were the thing that caused him to be totally lost for words. Their piercing green surface was just a cover that led to the deeper depths of darker green that lay below. These depths captured Tony and held him prisoner. He could not escape and strangely he didn't want to.

"Are you quite finished?" Loki asked, a smirk playing on his pale pink lips.

Tony stayed frozen for another few seconds, the only thought clear in his mind was shouting Oh fuck oh fuck, he saw me staring. Run you idiot RUN!

Not having any idea how to defend himself, he decided not to bother and just go with the flow. "Yeah I'm done," He said, sounding exactly like his usual insufferably annoying self. "Just wanted to appreciate the view for as long as I could."

Eyebrows raised, Loki looked down at Tony with an almost surprised expression on his face. "Very well...Are we done here or do you still have things you wish to ask?"

"Naa I think we're done. See you tonight Reindeer Games." With that Tony left shutting the door behind him. Once on the outside he silently cursed himself and Loki. Why did the guy have to be so damn manipulating? Whenever he was faced with the god alone all he did was make an idiot out of himself.

Turning swiftly he made to punch the wall next to Loki's door but thought better of it. Instead he rested his arm on the wall before leaning his whole body against it and groaning quietly. He had got to stop getting like this. Whenever he was faced with Loki this happened. Not one else, no, just Loki.

The evening came around quicker than expected. As the sun started to set over Manhattan the Avengers plus Loki gathered together and made their way down to the ground floor.

To the groups surprise there were a lot of people milling around, having quiet conversations, that all seemed to stop suddenly as they appeared and exited the lift. Most of the looks they received were quick carefree glances while others were long lingering stares that followed them all the way to the glass doors.

Once outside the world seemed to click back into motion and everything resumed its usual speed again. They set off along the path having small discussions between them. Tony led the way, having the best knowledge of local bars out of them all.

Loki walked at the back of the group not joining in on the conversations. Being out in public wasn't such a big deal for him anymore. Occasionally he was sent funny glances or abusive comments but it had been a year since his attack on the Earth and since then there had been a lot more threats which meant he was no longer S.H.I.E.L.D's number one threat.

Having his magic bound was also a reason not many cared anymore. People assumed that magic was his only source of power and with that gone he just seemed like a stupid spoilt child fighting for his father's love. The Avengers knew this wasn't the truth.

Absently, Loki rubbed the gold bracelets around his wrists, feeling the slight fizz of the magic encased within them. He missed himself. He missed his magic and everything that went with it. Being basically human was the worst feeling he had ever experienced and he vowed to himself to live out his punishment until his magic was allowed to him again. Then he would travel far away and never look back.

"Hey Rudolf, where are you going?"

The sudden shout brought Loki to his senses and he turned around abruptly. He realised the others had stopped outside a bar but he, being totally lost in thought, had walked straight past without realising. Taking a few steps back to the team he was soon pulled by his arm to Thor's side.

"Come along brother. Tonight you shall enjoy all new wonders of Midgardian culture." The god of thunder carried on his ramblings while pulling Loki inside, leaving the others to pile in after.

Inside the room was mostly dark. Very dim lights were the only things that lit the room, casting long dark shadows on the walls. The room was large with the bar set in the centre where people jostled around, attempting to order drinks and dance at the same time. Music pounded from massive speakers that sat in the four corners of the room so there was no escaping the loud heavy beats issuing from them.

"Tony I thought you said you were taking us to a bar, as in a quiet place to have a drink or two, not a club full of horny kids," Natasha yelled, attempting to be heard over the music.

"I'm sorry is this too hip for you? Come on, if you want to party you've gotta do it right."

With that he strutted off into the sea of people before them. In seconds he was swallowed up and no one could see where he had vanished off to.

"Come on let's get some drinks and try and find a place to sit," Natasha said. Not knowing if anyone heard, she grabbed Clint's sleeve and dragged him off to the bar with the others following closely behind.

The first hour or two dragged by with varying levels of boredom. Tony still hadn't returned from his wandering and Thor still wouldn't shut up about the wonders of Midgard. Slowly the alcohol began to kick in and the group began to loosen up. Clint and Natasha broke away from the others, making their way to the dance floor.

Huffing loudly, though no one could hear, Loki drained the last of his drink having nothing else better to do. He could feel a headache coming and it wasn't just down to the blaring music. For some reason, whether alcohol induced or not, Thor would not be quiet. For every minute of silence he got from the god was three filled with none stop chatting. He needed to escape or he might explode.

Without saying a word he got to his feet and headed in the basic direction of the bar, having no actual intention of ordering another drink. Though not wanting to admit it out loud, he thought that Midgard had a very good taste in drinks and he looked forward to trying more of their odd concoctions.

"You don't come here often," A bright voice said right behind him.

"No I don't," Loki answered, twisting to face this unknown stranger.

"No, I would defiantly remember a face like yours," The man replied, quirking an eyebrow seductively.

The god couldn't help but crack a small smile at the man. He seemed so sure of himself and how he acted that he didn't realise he sounded stupid.

Loki looked the man up and down taking in the man's clothes before settling on studying his face. Black denim jeans clung tightly to his long legs and he wore a loose button up checked shirt that he wore open over a tighter grey t-shirt. He had light blue eyes that were startlingly bright yet friendly in appearance. A wide smile was plastered on his lips that lit up his whole face and caused small wrinkles to form at the corners of his eyes. Dark soft blond hair sat in a heap on his head looking elegantly scruffy. On a whole he was not at all bad to look at.

"So can I get you a drink? My names Andrew by the way," Andrew said cheerfully.

Not wanting to rejoin Thor and the captain, Loki threw all rational thinking out the window and accepted.

"Cool, so you ever going to tell me your name?" Andrew asked after he ordered them both a drink from the harassed looking bartender.

"It's...um, Tony."

What? He could have said anything, any random made up name but he had to say Tony? Oh did Loki really care? It was just a spur of the moment thing; obviously he couldn't say his real name.

"Tony, really? I never thought you would suit a name like that. You seem like you should have an unusual mysterious name. I don't mean it in a bad way though," He finished quickly.

"Yes well I never thought it suited me either." Okay now starting to get slightly out of hand, change the topic and change it fast.

The conversation between Andrew and Loki continued on for some time. They discussed all kinds of things from the awful music taste of the club to hair care products; though the latter was more ranted about by Andrew while Loki let his thoughts wander.

At these moments when he allowed his mind to run free, it seemed to always crawl back to the same thought, Tony Stark. Whether it had started because of the fake name, Loki did not know but every time his interest in the conversation waned his thoughts would always return to the arrogant genius. With his sassy comments and irritating smirk Loki couldn't help but admit he was intrigued by the man.

To the world he came across as a rich playboy that had women falling at his feet and who cared only for himself. But somehow Loki knew there was more to him. Hidden behind the confident uncaring demeanour there was a man that not many people realised was there. That man was every bit the Tony Stark stereotype the Press wrote about but he was also so much more. And though he hid it well, Loki could still see the real Tony underneath and that Tony interested him a lot.