Slightly short chapter but at least it is a chapter. This is the important one that sets up the final part of the story so I hope you like it! Thankyou for all the continued support for this story, I appreciate it all!

Chapter 28

Tony spent almost a week bedridden. During that time he was visited by the rest of the team. Steve was first, after Bruce, and then came Clint who was the only one who actually managed to lighten the mood. Though Steve had really tried not to bring up the cave, having been instructed not to by an insistent Bruce, he still didn't manage to stop himself from straying to the subject. He was ushered very quickly from the room while Tony just lay there with a blank expression.

It was some time later before Natasha graced him with her presence. She walked in awkwardly, using the crutches that she had been forced to use. Bruce held the door open for her as she entered. When she passed him, she sent him a venomous look. From their brief conversation Tony learned that she was trying to convince Fury to allow her to modify the crutches to conceal weapons and such like. So far her suggestions had been rejected, much to her disappointment.

The last to pay a visit was Thor. He trudged into the room looking exhausted and dishevelled. He collapsed into the chair beside Tony's bed and let out a heavy breath, relaxing back as best as he could on its uncomfortable straight back.

"You look healthy," Tony stated bluntly.

"I am fine and in perfect health. But I didn't come to talk about myself, how are you?"

"I'm great," Tony smiled. "I just wish they would let me out this damned room."

"The doctors are just trying to make sure you are fully healed before they let you go. You suffered much in those months and it is important that you become well again."

The genius tried to pay attention to his words but all he could think was when did Thor get to be such a commanding ass? Still he supposed it was an improvement from his previous phases of self-righteousness and, how could he forget the best one, of when he had no idea how Earth worked and had to be taught how to use a microwave and put a movie on. Oh yeah they had been good times, Tony thought, smiling to himself.

"At least you have stayed positive," Thor said. Tony frowned, then he realised the god was referring to him smiling for no apparent reason that Thor could see.

"Uhh yeah, I guess. There's not really time for negativity when Fury expects you to be back at work by next week."

Thor smiled weakly but it didn't reach his eyes. Something was troubling and Tony knew it but he just didn't have the courage to ask him. Why had he only come now? Why not sooner? Whatever was wrong, he knew it was something to do with Loki. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was yet.

The pair lapsed into a fairly uncomfortable silence. Tony busied himself with pouring himself a glass of water while Thor fiddled with his hands that rested in his lap while gazing out the window. It would have been a good form of distraction except that the blinds were down so he couldn't see anything that was happening on the opposite side of the glass.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but did you come for something specific because you seem really stressed out and I'm starting to wonder if it has anything to do with me?"

Thor let out a heavy sigh and turned back to face him. The shadows under his usually alight eyes caused a pang of worry to pass through Tony's abdomen.

"It is not to do with you specifically, it is more my brother and where he is concerned it usually means it involves you too."

"I'm not sure if that is an insult or not," Tony replied.

"It was not supposed to be, I just meant it in terms of your relationship with Loki. You have become very important to him which is why I cannot understand his recent behaviour."

"Right okay...care to explain?" Tony asked, working hard to keep the sudden unease he felt from affecting his tone.

The genius's unease was not put to rest as Thor chose that moment to lapse into another painful silence. He stared into the corner of the room beside Tony's bed and muttered words to himself every so often. This seemed to be becoming new habit of his which Tony probably would have approved of if he hadn't been so desperate to find out what the god wanted to tell him. Watching Thor, he tried to get in his eye line by sifting on the bed but this only resulted with him losing his balance and almost toppling to the floor. He caught himself, though, and shifted safely back onto the bed. The sudden movement did the trick as it interrupted Thor's thoughts. He blinked then opened his mouth to speak as though there hadn't just been an almost five minute silence.

"Bruce warned me not to tell you and so did the others but I believe it is best that you should know."

What should he know? Tony thought.

"It is not that the doctor's have forbidden you to see Loki, it is more the fact that he has forbidden us to let you in. He does not want to see you."

The words hung in the air heavily before they slipped into Tony's brain causing his whole body to temporarily shut down. Loki didn't want to see him? But why? Were the injuries that he sustained really that bad that he didn't want him to see? Was he embarrassed of them, or embarrassed that he could do nothing to stop them happening? Or was it something deeper, more mental than physical. Did Tony remind him too much of the cave and what happened within? Was he a constant reminder of the horror and the fear and the pain? Though he wished that one of these questions were the right one, he knew none of them were true. This was Loki. The Loki that was supposed to care about Tony. He would not let fear or the memories keep him away, nor the wounds and scars. It was something else that had Loki so fixed on not letting him visit and Tony needed to know what.

"Very funny Thor." Tony tried to laugh but his voiced chocked up.

"I wish it was a joke Tony but it is not. We all agreed not to tell you but your health is fine now and Loki's is improving aswell. It would become very difficult to keep you two apart soon, which is why I thought it better to tell you."

"Right...okay." the genius didn't know what else to say.

"I will leave you alone for a while now if you want?" Thor asked, an expression of sadness and pity printed plainly on his face.

Tony only nodded in reply. A few seconds passed. Then he heard the scrape of the chair legs on the hard floor as Thor pushed it back so he had enough room to stand. He offered Tony a reassuring smile before exiting but he didn't see it. His eyes were fixed on a random point somewhere between the floor and he window. He gazed at it avidly as though waiting for something to happen or for the white paint to change colour and present him with the answers he so desperately sought.

By the time the afternoon had rolled into the evening, Tony had made up his mind. He was going to somehow sneak out of his room, get into Loki's and question him, all without causing a commotion or being caught. He needed answers. He needed them now.

In the end he decided to wait until the sun had fully set and the helicarrier was flying in the darkness of night. Everyone was in bed or that's at least what Tony assumed because no one had passed his window in ages, except some guards that paced the halls. He had watched them for some time and had vaguely managed to work out their route. They only came passed every fifteen minutes and there were always two, both dressed in S.H.I.E.L.D's top of the range body armour and carrying small but deadly guns. Tony only knew these details because he had designed both of them himself.

Noiselessly, he closed the blinds over his window and pretended to be asleep while he listened to the approaching footsteps of the two guards. They walked straight passed his room without pausing and continued on round the corner. Quick as a flash, Tony flung his bedcovers back and scrambled out of bed. He was already dressed in normal clothes, Bruce having finally allowed him to get dressed into something that didn't resemble a hospital robe.

Opening the door slowly, he peered out through the crack and looked left and right. There was no one is sight. He pulled the door fully open and turned back round to shut it, hearing, as he did so, the click that announced it was once again locked. Luckily he knew the keypad to get back in. As he tiptoed through the corridors, he wondered to himself why S.H.I.E.L.D only had door that locked from the outside. It wasn't very practical. Realising it wasn't the time to question S.H.I.E.L.D's security; he focussed again on the task in hand, making a mental note to bring the issue up with Fury at a later date.

The only problem he could think of at that moment was how was he supposed to find Loki's room. At first Bruce had told him that Loki was in a room close to his but now he wasn't sure if that was true, considering he hadn't been told until today about Loki's refusal to see him.

It turned out, however, that Bruce hadn't been lying and Loki's room was actually very close to his own. When he peered through a crack in the blinds of a room, he saw Loki lying on his side in the bed. He let out a frustrated breath, knowing he had just wasted loads of time locating his room when it had been in the close vicinity the whole time.

The door had a lock like the one for his own room; it required a password to enter. Tony assumed that they shared the same password and, sure enough, he was right. God S.H.I.E.L.D needed to improve their security he thought. The door clicked shut and Loki shifted in his bed. Tony edged forward and took the seat next to his bed. He wasn't quite sure how to approach the situation now he was there.

There wasn't any time for his to think though because a second later Loki's eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes.

"What in Valhalla are you doing here?" He hissed, sitting up straight.

"I think we need to talk."

"I think you need to learn the rules of what is acceptable for being a human because sneaking into someone's room in the night and when they specifically asked for you to be kept away is certainly not okay."

"What's not okay is that you told everyone to keep me away and yet I wasn't actually allowed to know. That's low Loki," Tony replied. "So tell me, what's going on?"

Loki swallowed and looked away.

"Well it's not my fault you found out like this, how did you find out anyway?"

"Thor told me, now stop changing the subject. I want answers and I want them now."

"I can see that," Loki muttered. "But I don't know what to tell you."

Tony let out a frustrated groan and threw his hands into the air. "Well you better get thinking then because I'm not leaving until I know exactly what's going on."

Loki stared back at him, whether it was in shock or something else, Tony didn't know. He didn't want to shout. He didn't want to be angry with Loki but he couldn't help it. Loki really wasn't making things easy. Didn't he understand how Tony was feeling? He was so confused and nervous. He wanted to know what was going on but he also didn't because he was scared of finding out what the problem truly was. His head was a mess and Loki wasn't making it easier. He needed straight answers.

"I didn't want to see you," Loki began.

"I know that bit," Tony interrupted. "If that's your reason then that's bullshit."

"Will you please calm down? There is no good talking about this if you're just going to shout, it won't help anyone."

"Fine, okay," Tony said, sitting back in the chair and doing his best to relax. When he spoke next it was with a soft tone that made Loki want to just fall into his arms. He pushed the thought away, knowing it wouldn't help at all with what he was about to do. "But Loki please, can you just explain because I'm dying here."

"There isn't really anything to explain."

"Then just say but stop with this, I just...need to know."

"Right okay, okay. Give me a minute," Loki said, still not meeting his eye. He couldn't look at him while he said this. It was too hard. This was all too hard. It wasn't supposed to be this way; it wasn't supposed to end like this.

The minute stretched on slightly too long for Tony's liking. "I'm sorry but I really can't wait any longer and I have to get back to my room sometime before dawn and it now isn't that far away."

"This isn't working out."

"What isn't? This conversation?"

"No, this...as in us. You and I as a couple, it is not working."

"That's the reason why you didn't want to see me. How long have you felt like this?"

"Long enough," Loki replied vaguely. "And being in that cave just confirmed it. We are not good for eachother. Before we even got to the cave I had already chosen to leave."

"Just because we're not good doesn't mean this has to end," Tony said desperately. He could feel his heart aching but he ignored it. "And you didn't leave because of me, at least I don't think so, because you told me I had to trust you."

"But you also ended up shouting at me to get out. Face it, this relationship would never have worked. It's better to end it now."

"No but-"

"Stark please don't make this more difficult. This is it, I'm telling you the truth."

"So that's it. We're over?"

"If that's how you say it on Midgard, then yes. We are over."

"Okay."

Tony got up from the chair and headed for the door. He didn't look back or say another word. The door shut behind him as he walked off down the corridor, the ache in his heart now turned into a full out burn. So this was what it felt like to lose someone you loved.

As he reached his door he heard two sets of footsteps round the corner.

"What are you doing Mr Stark?" One of them commanded.

"I was taking a piss," he replied bluntly. "Are there rules against it?"

"Uh, no," The agent muttered. "Sorry but you must go back inside your room now."

"Alright I'm going."

"Thankyou for cooperating."

"Cooperating? Are you joking? You don't own me, you can't tell me what to do. If I wanna piss I can go piss, I don't need permission and I don't need to be told to get back in my room."

"Mr Stark I think you need to calm down."

"Oh just fuck off, I've had enough of S.H.I.E.L.D and their shit."

"We will report this abuse to Director Fury in the morning." The pair hurried off around the corner to escape Tony's wrath.

"Abuse? Whatever, I don't give a fuck," He shouted after them.

Tony typed in the code and opened his door. He slammed it shut and fell against it, resting his forehead on the cool glass. So that was it. He had wanted the truth and he had it. Now he was single and alone and had lost the only person he had ever actually loved.

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