This is the last update now for 2 weeks, I go on holiday on saturday so I won't be able to post. Hopefully when I get back I'll have a few chapters prepared for you. Thankyou for sticking with this story and I hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 23

He could honestly say he didn't give a fuck to what was going on. Fury was rambling and raging and just generally berating them all for not warning him earlier about Loki. As soon as it had happened, Loki leaving again, Tony had alerted them and they had all agreed that the next step was to inform the director. Obviously he had not taken the news well but managed, through his anger, to get as many people as he could spare from S.H.I.E.L.D on the case, looking for the god.

Tony couldn't bring himself to explain it to Fury so he had let the others tell the story as best they could. At times they didn't have all the details and looked to him to fill in the gaps but he was never much help, only being there in body but not in mind.

Having no plans to join in on any of the discussions or any of the question asking, Tony had given up and zoned out. Something Fury said, though, brought him back to reality faster than he would have liked. At one point he had been floating in his own thoughts, coming up with his own plans and conclusions, when the director spoke and he was immediately flooded with overwhelming anger.

"So he did turn out to be just as crazy as we thought, at least we might not have to keep him anymore."

"He's not an animal," Tony shouted suddenly, making everybody jump. "And who are you to say if he is crazy or not. You don't know anything about him or what has happened. He is in serious trouble and you can do nothing but poke fun and be glad he's gone."

"Tony please-" Steve began but got interrupted.

"No fuck this, I'm out."

And next second that's what he was, out. He was outside the meeting room and off up the corridor. He turned the first corner he saw and stopped dead. Leaning back against the wall, he sunk to the floor and buried his face in his hands. He wasn't there for long before he heard footsteps coming his way and a few seconds later the feet of Cap came into view.

"Tony?" He said, tentatively.

"Yeah, what's up? Don't tell me, Fury is about to throw me out the building or fire me off the Avengers."

"Don't be stupid, he would never risk losing you on the team. Just don't ever expect him to admit it." Tony chuckled in spite of how much he really didn't feel like it. Steve smiled too but when the silence stretched on he spoke up again. "Look Tony," He said quietly. "I know you're stressed and I know you're hurting and I also know that Fury is being stupid but you've got to get past that. You care for Loki, you won't stop until he's found and neither will I. I'll help you as much as I can and so will the others but you need to understand that it will be harder for us, we don't know him like you do. Just don't get too worked up at us, we'll do our best to help but be prepared that it might not be enough."

He finished and just sat there, watching Tony as he processed what he had just said. He hoped that it had come out the way he had intended but there was always a possibility that he had said the totally wrong thing and made matters so much worse.

As he stood up to walk back to the meeting room, where the others still remained, he felt something touch his arm. Steve looked down and was surprised to see Tony's outstretched hand holding him back.

"Thankyou," The genius said.

Steve smiled at him and took his hand, pulling him to his feet. "So...back to the meeting? Just promise not to punch Fury."

"I'll try my best to refrain from it."

"That's all I'm asking for," Steve laughed, walking back to the meeting room next to Tony who, despite worrying immensely about Loki, now felt hope because he knew he wasn't alone in this.

The pain Loki could live with, after all he had suffered much worse. It was more the taunting remarks and snide comments that had him fuming and ready to let some blood flow free, preferably not his own. He just had to contain his anger for now, the Chitauri would pay. He would make sure of that.

He could easily say that the worst moment had been when the Chitauri had told the truth about Thanos. They had thrown him into the darkest cell they could ever come up with and had locked the door with more than just a bolt. Chains held him against the far wall that dripped with liquids that were definitely not all water. The chains were tight and cut into his skin every time he moved. The scabs that managed to form were only rubbed off again when the chains were removed because he was being taken out of the cell.

On one of these occasions they had ripped the chains from his wrists and thrown him out the door into the waiting clutches of another Chitauri. They had laughed as he stumbled to the floor and kicked him hard when he tried to stand so he went falling back to the ground again.

"Your master won't be happy with you if he knows what you're doing. He wants me alive."

"Master?" One of the Chitauri said. "What master?"

"Thanos," Loki replied, tasting the foulness in his mouth as he spat the name.

He was surprised when the Chitauri exchanged glances then promptly burst out laughing. Their laughter echoed off the walls, of what Loki had identified as a cave, and made his skin crawl.

"Care to share the joke?"

"Our Master is dead, your little mortal friends made sure of that. We are the last Chitauri, we managed to escape the explosion. We alone stayed true to his wishes and will make you suffer for your insolence and betrayal."

And that's the moment the world came crashing down around Loki. For a few days he had had hope. He had had the hope that they couldn't harm him too much, that their torture would just be pathetic attempts to cause pain because Thanos would be waiting for him on a ship far away in another universe that would take a while to get to. He had hoped that in that time Tony and the other avengers would be able to find him and rescue him. That's also the moment he remembered how his and Tony's last conversation had gone. Well it had barely been a conversation, more just a shouting match that had ended with himself walking out and subsequently to his doom while Tony was left with nothing but the hope that perhaps Loki would return.

Standing back on his feet, Loki held his head high and gave no reaction to what was just said. He pretended like the words had not affected him or caused him to fall lower than he ever thought possible, even lower then when he fell from the rainbow bridge.

He was pushed forward again and forced to walk as the Chitauri holding him, guided him down the already familiar path to where they had set up a little alcove in the cave that was dedicated to causing him pain.

The chains that still squeezed his wrists were tugged upwards and fastened above his head so only his toes brushed against the hard cold ground. His ankles were fastened together in more chains that made it even harder to keep his balance. Blood gently ran down his arm from where the chains had rubbed his wrists. He watched as it made a trail past his elbow and down to his straining shoulders. Sighing, he rested his head against his arm and waited for the pain to begin.

Without warning a whip slashed across his back, reopening the wounds that had managed to heal from the last time. He winced but made no noise. If this was all they had then he would be fine. The pain was sharp but faded fast, turning into a dull ache that he could live with quite easily. The next lash came fast and ended much the same as the last. His blood began to flow free. He felt it streaming down his back, as he lost count of how many times the whip connected with his skin.

When he still showed no sign of suffering any pain, the Chitauri grew angry. Only one was performing the punishment but a couple of the others stayed to watch for their own enjoyment. But they were all growing tired of getting nothing more than a few gasps or grunts. They wanted a show. They wanted pain. They wanted screaming and crying and begging for mercy. They wanted to reduce Loki to the thing that wasn't even worthy of their acknowledgment, to be a thing so small and insignificant that people could walk over it and not care if it screamed out in agony. He deserved this after everything he had done.

The Chitauri with the whip stepped back and spoke quietly with one of the others. Loki didn't bother trying to listen, it was too much effort and all he wanted to do was rest. But he wasn't given much time for that because a second later the whip met skin again. This time it was agony and had Loki's vision fading out to black. A loud gasp and then a growl escaped from his throat as he twisted to see what had just caused him that pain.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt our little prince?" A Chitauri said, mocking him with every word.

"Mmm I believe it tickled," Loki replied through gritted teeth.

"We'll soon have to change that then."

And the whipping continued. He didn't remember how long it went on for. He didn't remember when he started to scream. He didn't remember when he started to call out for Tony. He only remembered waking up back in his cell in a pool of his own blood and his body aching so much that all he could do was shift his legs closer and hug them to try and preserve some body heat.

Shivers began to rake through his body and he wished more than anything that Tony was there. No matter how irritating his comments could be, no matter how frustrating his habits could be, Loki wished that Tony was there. Or rather that he was with Tony. That would mean that he would be safe and away from any more pain, away from the whips endued with magic and away from the Chitauri. But that would also mean that what happened between Tony and himself had never happened, that they hadn't argued and hadn't left their relationship like that. If Loki was honest with himself now, if he ever saw Tony again, he knew there would be no relationship. He had made sure of that. He didn't deserve Tony.

That was the last thought on his mind as unconsciousness claimed him again. All physical pain forgotten, just the pain in his heart remained that reminded him he had messed up the only good thing he had ever had.

It had been weeks now since Loki had disappeared and Tony was beginning to give up hope. If the god didn't want to be found he was sure that they would not find him. S.H.I.E.L.D had been working flat out in their search but had come up with absolutely nothing. No clues. Nothing.

Rubbing his forehead wearily, Tony entered his tower and went straight up to the top floor. On the way he loosened his tie and pulled it off his neck and held it by his side, running it occasionally through his fingers. He had just come back from a meeting that Pepper had set up for Stark industries. She thought it would help keep his mind off other matters but really it just bored him so much that his mind was forced to come up with other alternatives to engage him that always ended with Loki. Where is he? Is he okay? Does he need help? Does he miss him too?

He collapsed onto one of his sofas and let himself relax into the soft cushions. It had been a tiring day. Now all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Jarv, dim the lights," He said, glancing up to the ceiling where his AI lay in wait for instruction.

Nothing happened.

"Jarv? Jarvis, you there?" He asked, sitting up and attempting to pull up one of Jarvis's screens.

Still nothing happened. He started to feel slightly unnerved. There couldn't be a virus or anything corrupting his systems because Tony would have been alerted and Jarvis was so advanced he could sort out any problem without too much trouble. But now there was nothing. It was as though he had just disappeared. Or something was blocking him.

He thought the best option was to head to his workshop and see if he could fix whatever the problem was so that is what he did. Struggling to his feet, he plodded slowly towards the flight of stairs that led to his workshop. If his senses hadn't been dulled with fatigue he would have heard the footsteps and felt the rush of air and changing in temperature. However his reaction came too late. As he spun to meet this unknown presence, he was hit hard on the back of the head and collapsed to the floor and into darkness.

He blinked once, twice, trying to clear his head that was pounding. His fingers brushed over the back of it and he winced as he pressed lightly on the lump that had formed there. Then he shivered. Preoccupied at first, Tony hadn't bothered to take in his new surroundings but now he searched them as best he could in the suffocating gloom. It was freezing. So cold that he could see small clouds every time he took a breath. The ground was hard and damp. Damp from what, he didn't know but he just prayed that it was water.

The sound of footsteps drew him away from his thoughts. He scanned his close vicinity again. He was in a cage, well a cell, and the bars where made of cool metal and far too close together o be able to squeeze through. He found the lock on the part that was the door and tried unsuccessfully to prise it open.

"You really believe your feeble attempts will work?"

Tony stilled, his gaze flitting from corner to corner, trying to place the voice. It was too dark, though, for him to see anything but dense shadow.

"Why am I here?" He asked steadily.

"We have use of you. You will be a valuable weapon to us."

"I don't even know who the hell you are. What use could I possibly be to you?"

The voice paused as though calling for patience. "As I said, you are very valuable."

"Oh because that gives so much away. Just give me straight answers, it's not like I'm going anywhere," Tony shouted, his voice reverberating off the walls as he gestured at the bars keeping him locked inside.

"That is true, this cell is built for mortals. For the pathetic and weak and small minded. I highly doubt you would escape and even if you did we would find you."

There was threat in the strangers voice but Tony paid little attention. He was not pathetic or weak and all he really wanted to do was show this mystery person exactly what he could do. With or without his iron man suit he could still cause enough pain that this person would take back his words without little resistance.

His next thought was interrupted by a loud cry of pain followed by a scream that was only muffled by the walls that were obviously separating them. Tony's body went rigid but his heart increased its rhythm. Panic. The one thing he wished more not to feel. Panic. It would be his undoing. If this mystery person that was keeping guard of him sensed it he would be in trouble.

The low chuckle of said person made his blood boil.

"W-who is that?"

"Oh you'll soon see," The person replied and this time he stepped closer and into a small patch of light that allowed Tony to identify him. He was one of the Chitauri.

He walked right up to the cell and slid a key out from somewhere concealed in his armour. Sliding a key into the lock, he turned it and the mechanism clicked and the door swung open after he gave it a push.

Two more figures appeared, dragging a third between them. They threw him through the open door and let him fall hard onto the damp ground. A groan of pain was heard but the person didn't show any other signs of life.

"Well have fun catching up," One Chitauri said, directing his words at Tony. Then he turned and walked up to the limp body on the ground. "And you, we'll be seeing you later." He kicked the person on the floor hard in the middle of the back before laughing when he made another moan of pain then he left. The door was locked and all three Chitauri vanished along the path that led to where the screams had been heard.

Once they were safely away and out of ear shot, Tony hurried over and dropped to his knees next to the almost lifeless body.

"Hey, are you okay?"

He knew it was a stupid question but he didn't know what else to say. The man was clearly injured by the noises he had made and how he wasn't moving and how he was gasping for breath. Tony looked over the body and his eyes landed on the ripped shirt and the red gashes that could only come from a whip. He let out a deep breath slowly to calm himself before he moved closer ready inspect more of the damage.

Being too immersed in what he was seeing, Tony didn't notice how the man tensed at the sound of his voice. He only realised something was wrong when the man suddenly came to life and tried to shift away and across to the opposite side of the cell.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you anymore. I'm not one of the bad guys, you're gunna have to trust me," Tony said in a rush, worried for the man who was clearly in no shape to be moving.

When his strength gave way and he fell back to the floor, Tony moved forward again to try and help but the man pushed his hands away.

"Look, I'm just trying to help."

"I don't need your help," A voice replied and Tony froze in horror.

Loki took that moment to raise his head and look Tony straight in the eye. And all Tony could do was stare back as every horrible theory he had had about Loki came true in his mind all in the same moment.

Sorry again. Please review?!