Chapter 18

It was only a few more stressful hours before they were piled into cars and on their way to the small church that Bruce and Betty were to get married in. As the best man, and taking his role extremely seriously, Tony rode in a car with Bruce alone while everyone else climbed into the other cars and followed behind.

They arrived at the church a little later than first intended because of an increased amount of traffic on the roads, but once they did arrive, everyone settled down quickly, forgetting about how agitated they had previously been. Loki sat himself next to Clint at the end of one of the rows. He much preferred to be out of sight even though it meant a great deal to him that he was there. There was only a small walkway next to him and then it was the cold stone wall. Not many people elected to walk down that path, preferring instead to take the main aisle that Betty would be walking down herself, very soon.

The others all took seats in the same row as Clint and Loki, Natasha settling herself next to the archer and Steve next to her. Fury occupied the next seat and then it was Thor. First the director had been sitting at the end but they all agreed that that was far too daunting when people walked down and they definitely didn't want to make Betty more nervous than she probably already was. After much persuasion he had swapped with the blond god and they were now all comfortable and settled, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

"So, you nervous?"

"What do you think?" Bruce muttered, throwing Tony a disgusted look that didn't quite have the right effect because of the crack in his voice.

"Look," Tony began, taking pity on him and wanting to make him feel better. "What do you really have to worry about? Yes she might not turn up, yes she might say no, yes this might not last forever-"

"Really not helping!"

"Let me finish. What I'm trying to say is that there are so many possible scenarios and probably the most playing out in your head right now are bad but there are also so many good ones. Like the ones where everything goes right and you get married here today just like you planned. You declare your love for eachother and then you leave for a well earned holiday that comes with the guarantee of you having the best sex of your life." Bruce chuckled at that. "Yes it could all go shit and this could be the worst day of your life, but it could also be the best and turn into everything you've ever wished for."

"You better be right," He said, smiling.

Tony grinned back.

Loki watched them talk from his seat. He saw Tony lean forward slightly and sensed him lowering his voice as though discussing something serious. It probably was. Still he continued to map his movements, noting how his dark grey suit barely creased as he moved and how his hair looked as soft as silk and how, when he tilted his head, the strands followed his movements in an almost graceful flick. He had to admit he liked the look of Tony standing up there, where he could admire him and where others could to. Although he relished in the feeling that only he could really have eyes for Tony and Tony had eyes only for him.

Soon the wedding began. The music started playing quietly in the background and everyone got to their feet with their eyes shifting to the doors where two young girls appeared, scattering rose petals along the aisle that Betty walked on behind them. Though standing up, Loki's eyes didn't move from the front where Tony was taking a step back from Bruce to where his own seat was waiting. The smile on his face looked so joyous and happy and the joy wasn't even meant for him. Loki wondered what it would be like if the happiness was for him, that this wedding was his own. He imagined the smile on his face as he stood before him, ready to take his vows. Blinking, Loki shook his head and quickly took his seat like everyone else was doing, praying that he would be able to bury that wonderful thought along with his love for Tony that he just couldn't bring himself to share.

The ceremony didn't last as long as he had expected, being only used to Asgardian weddings meant preparing yourself for at least a whole day of torture (obviously only when it's not your own wedding, when it is you're obviously very happy). Still once they were pronounced man and wife they kissed and everyone got to their feet once more and applauded. Betty and Bruce turned and smiled at the small crowd before making their way back up the aisle, arm in arm. They all carried on clapping until the couple had left and then people started to file out behind. Tony walked up as Loki exited his row and they met half way up the walkway.

"Have fun?" Tony asked as they continued to follow the crowd.

"It was more enjoyable than I expected. Weddings are very long and drawn out in Asgard so this made a nice change from the others I have attended," Loki replied.

They emerged from the slightly dimmer church into the bright sun. Everyone followed the couple to a car that was waiting on the long driveway. Circling around the vehicle, they all clapped again and cheered as Bruce kissed Betty again as they got into the car. It drove away a minute later, leaving everyone to sort themselves out before they would all meet up again later for the reception.

"What are you two doing now? Are you going back to the tower, or what?" Clint questioned, making his way over to them.

"No, it's too much effort to go all the way back just to leave again. The reception is being held close to here so I thought we could just hang around for a while," Tony answered, directing the last bit at Loki who nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, mind some tag alongs?"

"Yes I do mind but I suppose I have no choice."

Clint shook his head and smirked, following closely behind as Tony walked away.

The reception was quick in starting and was soon in full swing. When Bruce and Betty entered together, everyone cheered while the pair beamed at them all. Guests kept arriving over the next hour or so, some that had not been invited to the ceremony. Unfortunately one of them was a person that Loki least wanted to see. Pepper wandered in through the double doors accompanied by Happy, who Loki had finally been introduced to a couple of weeks back. They both made their way over to Bruce and Betty and gave over a gift bag and a smaller package that matched the bag. After they shared a few words, Happy walked over to the drinks table and expertly mixed himself up a drink. Pepper was left alone. She gazed around, looking for someone to talk to, when he eyes fell on Loki who looked straight back from his own seat.

Staring directly into his eyes, Pepper began to strut around the room in the direction of Tony, who was talking to Steve not too far away. Tony seemed to notice her just before she reached him and hurriedly ended his conversation and walked over to Loki. He took the seat next to him and sighed.

"Hey Tony," Pepper called, then stopped short realising where he had moved to.

"Hi Pepper," He replied, faking a polite tone.

"Oh...right. Well sorry we'll have to talk later, I...err...I have to go and talk to them." She gestured in the general direction of a group of people. Not bothering to wait for a response, she left quickly without a backwards glance, her heels clicking on the hard floor.

"That wasn't awkward at all," Loki commented.

Tony chuckled. "Yeah, she'll get over it I'm sure."

I hope so Loki thought. He hadn't believed that this Pepper business would be such a problem but seeing her again now had just reminded him of all his first fears. He wasn't just angry at her for snapping at himself and Tony. Though he would never ever admit this, he was actually jealous of her. Her and Tony's relationship was one to envy, and he hadn't just come up with this himself, he had often heard the other avengers say it too. They had managed to go from the best of friends to a relationship with spoken words of love to sort of friends again. Loki hated to think about this but he had once overheard one of the team say that if they hadn't got together, himself and Tony, then Pepper and Tony could have had another chance. That thought scared the god. Jealousy was not a good feeling.

The quiet music that had been playing in the background died away, drawing Loki's attention back to his surroundings. Bruce was leading Betty into the middle of the dance floor to even more applause. A slow song began to play that Loki took to be a love song and the couple began to revolve on the floor. Bruce held Betty close in a grip that said that he didn't want to let go, it wasn't hard and it wasn't intimidating, it just said that he cared so much and wasn't ready to let go. Betty rested her head against his shoulder and visibly relaxed. They looked so perfect, wrapped up in their own little world. No one could deny the level of love that was emanating from them.

When the song ended, they pulled apart reluctantly and smiled at eachother. They exited the floor and broke apart, each finding a new partner. Betty took Steve's hand and marched back to the centre of the floor as the music restarted with a new song and Bruce asked Natasha to dance to which she accepted.

Tony stood up and offered his hand. "Care to join me?"

"Really?" Loki asked curiously.

"Yes really."

"But, people will see. What happens if this gets out or something bad happens?" He eyes flashed over to Pepper who was discreetly watching them from a corner.

Tony followed his gaze and frowned. "I don't care what people think or who sees. You're my boyfriend and I'm going to dance with you at my friend's wedding and not give a crap if someone doesn't like it."

"As long as you're sure," Loki said, accepting his hand and walking with him to the dance floor.

"I'm very sure," Tony smiled. He placed his hands on Loki's hips and drew him close while the god rested his arms over his shoulders, his fingers playing with Tony's hair.

They moved in time with the music and as the time passed and more couples joined them on the floor, the more Loki relaxed and began to enjoy himself. It was nice to share a more personal moment without having to do it in the tower or else hide from the prying eyes of the paparazzi. It was also a nice feeling to see the smirk fade from Pepper's face as she watched them take to the floor. Fury's expression was also amusing. He seemed far more shocked and utterly indignant about the whole thing but he made no move to stop them which made Loki even happier. Perhaps this was a step to them being more accepted. He knew it was small, but it was a start.

The song ended and a lot of couples stepped away from the floor while others took their places. But some remained, like Loki and Tony, too lost in the moment to realise there was no music. Soon it began again and they all moved again, matching the slow rhythm with their precise steps.

Loki revolved around with Tony, not putting in much effort but none was really needed. It was more about enjoying the closeness and the comfort of having eachother to hold. He took a breath and looked into Tony's eyes. The next second he was stumbling backwards, as though winded, and panting lightly.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked, concern written on his face.

"Yeah, yes...just...I need a minute," Loki said, stumbling over his words.

He didn't give the genius another moment to speak because he quickly headed off in the direction of the door. Once outside he breathed in the cool air, filling his lungs with the fresh oxygen. Not having any idea what happened, Loki rethought over the last few moments. All he could remember was dancing with Tony and then he had blacked out of the briefest of seconds and then he had fallen backwards and ran out. Before he could put any more thought to the matter Loki's head began to spin and he lost his balance, staggering to the side and only managing to stay upright by holding onto a bench for support. Then his vision went black and he lost total focus of where he was and what he was doing.

A voice filled his head. A voice that he had heard before, but one he had never expected to hear again.

"Hello my little prince, did you miss me? Of course you did, well it's a good thing I'm coming for you. Yes, I'm so close. I will find you."

Loki sank even lower until he was kneeling on the hard ground, clutching his skull and breathing heavily.

"I will find you, and when I do I will punish you. I will make you pay for your failure. You will suffer, and so will your pathetic mortal friends. There is nowhere to run, I will find you."

The voice faded away leaving Loki just a cowering mess on the floor. After a few minutes of silence he started to compose himself, hoisting his body onto the bench and leaning forward so he could rest his head in his hands.

What was going on? How could that have happened? How could he have spoken to him? All the questioned tumbled around his head until it began to ache from the strain of finding no possible answers.

"Hey, Loki?" Tony rounded the corner. "Are you alright? You just ran out, I had no idea where you went."

"I...err." He had a split second to decide what to say. Could he tell the truth? No, of course not. "I'm fine, I just needed some air," He replied, smiling slightly.

"Oh right," Tony said, unconvinced.

He sat down next to the god on the bench and looked out across the grass, not knowing what to say. It wasn't a nice feeling being lied to, especially when it was exceptionally clear that he was lying. It was fair to say he was no longer the god of lies, judging by his poor performance now. Still Tony hated that he knew he was lying. Was it that insignificant that it didn't matter? Or was it so important that he felt like he couldn't trust him? Either way it hurt. He wanted to be trusted.

"So, we should probably go back inside now."

"Okay I'll come in a minute," Loki murmured, not looking up.

"Alright," Tony said tensely.

Once he was back inside he didn't know what to do. He felt slightly lost and out of place. So far things with Loki had been fine and now this one tiny thing had made him think that perhaps everything was wrong. Really, thinking about it, he knew nothing about Loki, not really. He had only begun to get to know him a few months ago after seeing him try to take over the world with an alien army. Not really the best start to a relationship. And yet he had thought he had actually started to fall in love with him, this stupid mad god that was one of the most amazing and intriguing people he had ever met. How stupid and naive of him.

"Hey, are you okay Tony?" Bruce asked, walking over to him.

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. Do you wanna talk about anything?"

"No it's fine, I wouldn't want to put a downer on your wedding."

Bruce sighed, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his suit jacket before replacing them on his nose. "Well you're sort of doing that already by just by having that depressed expression on your face so you might as well just tell me."

"It's nothing really, it's probably me just being stupid but I think there's something up with Loki but he's keeping it from me. He just started being really weird and he looked really panicked but he said he was fine when I asked if he was okay."

"Look Tony don't worry. I'm sure everything's fine. If this is the first time something happened then there's no need to panic but obviously if it happens more then maybe you should confront him. Just act normal and it will be fine, see he's just come back in. Go have a nice evening and stop complaining," Bruce said, nodding his head towards the door where Loki had just re-entered through.

The rest of the reception went surprisingly well. Tony acted as naturally as he could but whenever he thought Loki wasn't watching, he studied him carefully, trying to identify any change in him. He found nothing except that the god seemed far tenser than he had been earlier in the day. Putting it down to something unimportant, he followed Bruce's advice and tried to forget the whole thing.

Loki knew he needed to stay calm and not freak out. He knew he was acting oddly but he was struggling to keep his cool. Thanos. Thanos. How had it been Thanos? He was dead. He was dead and gone and yet he had spoken to Loki. It had been no hallucination. Did that mean he was back? No. No. Loki had to believe there was another explanation. He had to. Because if he believed that Thanos was back, if he believed what he had just heard then that meant he was close to losing everything.

Okay wow so now something has actually happened (gasp) anyway so Thanos has been mentioned in this chapter and will crop up more from here, I will tell the truth I don't really know much about him so what I will be writing probably has nothing to do with his character or might not be true or whatever but this is fanfiction which means I can do what I want. Hopefully I won't make this too crap but there's always a chance...oh well. Please review?! :)