I'm just slightly in love with this chapter and I've been waiting forever to write it, I hope I did it justice!

Chapter 29

He didn't move from where he stood while Thor paced round and round, talking the whole time about something or other that he hadn't been listening to. It was the morning, Tony had never returned and now they were preparing to leave for the Avenger's Tower. Loki still wasn't allowed to move around too much in case he disturbed the stitches that had unfortunately been used to help heel his back. Why were the doctors on Midgard so difficult? On Asgard the gashes could have been sealed with magic and left to heal, in no time at all he would be back to normal. But Loki had the misfortune of still being on Midgard which meant he had to put up with their ways of doing things.

"When we arrive you will be helped to your room and put to bed, you still need plenty of rest."

"I'm not a child Thor," Loki snapped.

Thor's face softened. "Brother what is the matter? You have been off all morning."

Loki chose to ignore the question and the comment, choosing instead to ask his own question. "Where is Ton...Stark?"

The blond god's face fell and he shuffled awkwardly in front of Loki. "I'm sorry to tell you this but Tony has already left for his house in Malibu, he will not be returning to the tower with us. I don't know why but he did not seem happy when I said farewell to him."

"He came to see me during the night. I ended our relationship."

Thor's mouth opened abruptly to speak but his words were swallowed by the heavy breath that fell from his lips. He stared at his brother in disbelief and didn't answer for some time. When he did it was with a cold edge that surprised Loki.

"I hope you made the right choice," was his reply. "Be ready to leave in around half an hour," he finished, taking a final glance into his brothers eyes before exiting the room.

Loki was left standing in the middle of his room, alone and with regret flooding through him. He had believed it would be the right choice. He thought that ending his relationship would be the best for them both but as soon as Tony had walked out he had already began to feel the first stings of regret. Now, after thinking over it for the rest of night and after telling Thor, it was even worse. Thor even thought he had made the wrong decision.

He sat back on the edge of his bed and hissed at the pain that shot up his back. The huge gashes were still painful, even with his healing magic and the Midgardian doctors working on them. It must be to do with something in the Chitauri's weapons. They must have something that prevents healing or pain reduction in them. Not that this really bothered Loki now. It was over, they were gone. Apparently. He still felt unsure. He still expected himself to be dragged backwards into darkness where he would be subjected to even more pain. It hadn't happened yet but he couldn't shift the uneasy feeling he had.

How did he used to get rid of his unease? How did he used to be able to walk around and feel as though there wasn't an invisible threat hovering above? How did he never notice that there was no threat, that the danger was gone, that he was safe? Then he remembered how. He remembered how Tony's hand would wrap around his own as he threaded their fingers together. He remembered the blue glow of Tony's Arc reactor that illuminated his eyes in the dark as they lay together in each other's arms. He remembered the smile that would light up the genius's face every time he saw Loki. That smile, Loki knew, was for him and only for him. It was his smile.

Loki let out an angry cry and slammed his fist down on the bed. With the soft bedcovers it didn't have much effect and just made a muffled thump as his hand made contact with it. How could something so simple as a smile from a mortal make a god feel safe, make a god forget all his worry? How could a god fall so in love with a mortal and not realise it until that mortal had already gone and wasn't likely to come back?

Someone knocked on the door, distracting Loki from his thoughts.

"The jet is ready for your departure with your team, they are waiting for you on deck."

Nodding, Loki stood and followed the man out his room, discreetly wiping away a tear that had escaped down his cheek.

Pepper's phone began to ring in her pocket as she strode down a corridor, trying to explain something as a quickly as possible to a new worker that was just starting today.

"If you still don't understand then go and ask him for help," she said, gesturing vaguely at man who was leaning over a photocopier.

As the worker hurried away, she rearranged the documents and folders in her arms so they balanced in one hand. With her now free hand, she reached inside her pocket and pulled out her still buzzing phone. Touching the answer button, she pressed the device to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello Miss Potts I thought it best to warn you that Tony as arrived at his mansion in Malibu."

"Thankyou JARVIS, wait...what's he doing there, shouldn't he be at the tower? Are the others with him?"

"No he arrived alone at precisely 8:36 where he proceeded to empty his liquor cabinet and take its contents with him to the sofa where he has remained since."

That can't be good, Pepper thought.

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Wise choice Miss Potts."

The line went dead and Pepper wasleft staring straight ahead at her office door. She had so much work to do but she also hadn't even heard from Tony since he was found safely. She had been worried sick when he had gone missing and now he was home. Something just felt wrong. Why had he come back alone? Why was he in Malibu and not New York? Why wasn't Loki with him? She could only assume something bad had happened between them and if so then she knew he would need a friend.

Opening her office door, she deposited the stack of folders on her desk before exiting the room and locking the door. On her way out the building, she told a random worker to explain to the others that she had had an emergency and had to leave early. She pulled her phone back out and dialled a number.

"Hey Happy, I need a lift."

"I'll be right there," was the reply and not a minute later a car sped round the corner and a door opened.

Pepper climbed in and filled him in on what JARVIS had said. Then they were off, speeding towards Tony's mansion. On arrival, Pepper suggested that it was better if she just went in alone, not meaning it rudely at all. Happy agreed and left, telling her to call if she needed a ride home.

"Tony?" Pepper called as she entered through the front door. "Tony?"

She walked slowly through to the living room, her heels clicking on the floor. When she entered her eyes went straight to the lump that lay on the sofa. Rushing over, she bent down in front of Tony and shook his arm.

"Tony, Tony wake up!"

He grunted but didn't open his eyes. Glancing around, Pepper silently counted the bottles that littered the table and the floor. Though there were a lot, she also realised with relief that most of them were still full. There were a few, however, that were devoid of their contents and Pepper could smell them on his breath.

"Oh Tony, what's happened?" She whispered, gently running her fingers through his hair.

When she had been told that he had been found and that he was mostly unhurt, she had imagined seeing him again. She imagined that it would be like when he was brought back from the cave all those years ago after fighting his way out with his first ironman suit. But it wasn't the same. The relief that he was okay was there, but seeing him so helpless again and so sad was not right, it shouldn't be like this. He should be celebrating freedom not getting drunk and falling asleep, alone.

Where was Loki?

The sun was setting before Tony woke up. It had just dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky all shades of pink and orange, as Tony's eyes opened and he let out a loud groan of discomfort. Pepper looked up from where she was sitting on a chair opposite him. Switching off her tablet, she moved forward and knelt on the floor in front of him.

"Tony, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Pep, how are you?" He replied, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"You're not fine at all," she said.

"Don't ask then, if you aren't going to believe me." He leant forward and snatched up an opened bottle of alcohol then took a few large swigs before setting it back down again.

Pepper stared at him in shock. "Tony what's happened? Why are you here? Where's Loki?"

At the mention of the god's name, Tony flinched slightly and his eyes took on an even deeper shade of sadness. Though he hoped she wouldn't notice, Pepper did. She took his hand in hers and squeezed reassuringly.

"Please tell me," She said quietly, staring into his dark brown eyes.

"There's nothing to tell Pep," Tony smiled. She could see that it was totally forced and held no joy. "Me and Loki broke up and that's it. I never really believed it would work out anyway so it's okay. I'm fine."

He didn't look fine.

"What!" Pepper cried. "You ended it with him?"

"I didn't, no. He did."

"And you just accepted it?"

"What else could I do?" Tony asked, his voice rising in volume. "He refused to see me after we were rescued so I went to see him myself and he ended it. I tried to change his mind but it didn't work. We're over, done, whatever else you can come up with, but we're no longer together. We're finished."

As his voice faded to silence Pepper could see he was shaking. She put her arms up to pull him into a hug but he turned away. Her arms fell back to her sides limply. What was she supposed to do? How could she make this situation better? She knew Tony. She knew that he would wallow in sadness and drink his pain away until he was passed out for a week. She wouldn't let that happen, she couldn't.

Picking up her phone from the table she walked out the room, dialling a number as she went.

"Happy?"

"Do you need me to give you a lift?"

"Yes but first I need you to ready the Stark Jet."

"O...kay, where are you going?"

"Manhattan, I need to get to the Avengers tower."

"Alright, I'm on it."

She hung up the phone then dialled another number.

"Hello?"

"Hey it's Pepper, I need your help."

"Oh god what's happened?"

"Nothing Rhodey, I just need you to come to come to Malibu and stay with Tony while I'm gone."

"I'm a bit busy at the moment. What's up with him?"

"He's in one of his states and it's bad. I've got to go to New York and I need someone here. Will you do it, please?"

The line went silent for a moment then she heard a frustrated breath. "Okay, fine, I'll be there as soon as I can but you owe me one for this."

"Thanks Rhodey, see you when I get back. Hopefully I won't be too long."

Just before she hung up the phone she heard Rhodey mutter I hope not.

She strode back into the living room and saw Tony gulping down another bottle, the first now drained. The urge to go over there and rip the bottle from his grip was strong but she resisted. It would do no good to cause an argument now. Instead she just watched her friend drown his sorrows in alcohol.

About twenty minutes later her phone buzzed with a text telling her that Happy was outside and the Stark Jet was ready for flight. Pepper hesitated in walking back in to say goodbye to Tony, she thought it better to just leave quietly. If she said goodbye then there would probably be questions and she couldn't bear to look into those eyes so devoid of emotion again.

"Everything okay?" Happy asked as she left the house.

"Yeah, everything's fine...at least it will be," She added as an afterthought.

The flight was surprisingly quick and she was soon in a car that took her straight to the tower. She thanked the driver then headed inside. It was now early in the morning, so early in fact that the sun hadn't yet risen but she didn't care. Nothing would stop her from talking to him now. Well maybe a few things would but they weren't relevant.

She took the lift up to the top floor where she guessed Loki's room would be. Stepping out, Pepper walked down the corridor that led to the bedrooms. Most of the doors were open, all except two. One she guessed was Tony's and the other Loki's. It was a good thing that she knew the towers plan off by heart and so knew which room was Tony's. Turning to her left, she wrapped hard on the door with her knuckles. There was no reply. She knocked again, this time harder.

"Mmhhh what?"

Pepper took that as an invitation to enter so she threw the door open and stalked inside.

"You!" Pepper shouted, pointing a finger straight at Loki. "Do you know what you've done?"

"Excuse me," Loki said, an expression of surprise clear on his face even in the darkness of the room. "What have I done and why are you in my room?"

"What have you done? What have you done? You've thrown away the best thing that could ever have happened to you. You have broken up with Tony and left him totally alone and heartbroken. If JARVIS hadn't told me where he was I never would have found him drinking himself into oblivion. Lucky for you I was told and managed to get there before he could do any serious damage."

"Why are you telling me this?" Loki asked.

"Because you need to know what you've done and because I need to know why you did it."

Loki let out a slow breath then turned on his side to switch on a light. As light washed over the room Pepper's furious expression was fully revealed to him. She was breathing heavily and her jaw was clenched with her lips in a firm line. The god had to admit, it was rather intimidating and could probably scare any other person enough that they wouldn't argue with a word she said. Unfortunately she was up against Loki and he didn't back down from a fight easily.

The silence stretched on longer than Pepper liked so she broke it. "So, why did you do it?"

"I don't think that it is any of your business."

"I'm making it my business. Tony is my best friend and I care about him more than anyone and seeing him in such a mess is horrible. You know I don't like you and you now that I don't like you being with Tony even more but I have to admit that I have never seen Tony so happy until you two got together."

Her voice took on a softer note towards the end of her little speech. She watched Loki's face drop into an even more saddened expression and she couldn't help but feel sympathy. The god didn't make eye contact with her; he stared down at the bed then leant over to pour himself a glass of water. It was too far for him to reach and he hissed in pain as he stretched for it. Taking pity on him, Pepper walked over and poured him a glass of water before handing it to him.

"Thankyou," Loki whispered, taking the glass hesitantly then sipped it.

Pepper sat on the edge of his bed carefully, wondering briefly if he would shout at her or kick her off. He made no protest to her sitting there however; he just continued to stare down at his bedcover.

"I didn't want to hurt him," Loki said slowly.

"You should have thought about that before you broke his heart," Pepper replied, but the bitterness was gone from her voice.

"It just wouldn't have worked. We are far too different. He is mortal, I am a god. That is a combination that is doomed to fail. Being in that cave just proved to me how vulnerable he is and how stupid I have been. I was wrong to believe that I could actually be happy with someone."

"For god's sake, stop feeling sorry for yourself!" Loki's eyes snapped up to meet Pepper's in an intense stare. "You are allowed to be happy. Just because you messed up in your past doesn't mean you have to deny yourself a good future. You met someone that you like, that you might even love, and that person loves you back. What more could you want? Who cares that he's mortal and you're a god. Love is love no matter what."

"For being a simple human, you are rather intelligent," Loki said. He chuckled slightly and after a second or two Pepper joined in, laughing quietly.

"Thanks...I think," She replied.

There was a long pause.

"Anthony would be better off with you."

"Yeah, but he chose you Loki. If he hasn't said it yet then he's certainly thinking it, he loves you."

"He has said it," Loki said, smiling sadly. "I never said it back."

"Well you should have considering how obvious it is that you're totally head over heels for him."

"I have been a total fool," he muttered.

"Yep," Pepper said back. "But you can sort it all out now. Fly back with me to Malibu and tell him straight. I'm sure he will forgive you."

"No, I must travel to Asgard."

Pepper stood up in surprise. "What? No, no, no, you need to fix things not go back to your weirdo god planet. The longer you leave this the worse it will be."

"There is something I must take care of first, it is far more important." Loki slowly slid out of bed and stood up straight. There was a soft glow of gold that swirled round his body and then he was fully dressed in clothes that would only be fitting for Asgard or a fancy dress party. "I will not be long," He said, turning back to a stunned Pepper.

"But what are you going to do?"

"Solve a problem before it becomes a problem."

"WHAT?" Pepper shrieked. "Sometimes I hate you gods, will you just speak plain English and tell me exactly what you're going to do."

"It is you that has brought this to light and I can't believe I have never considered it before." Pepper was about to ask what he had never considered before but he saw her opening her mouth and answered her question without her having to ask. "I love Anthony, I love him more than anything and I could never stand to be without him. That is why I broke up with him, because I couldn't stand the idea of losing him, I almost lost him in the cave and I couldn't take it again. But now I have a solution."

"And that is?" Pepper asked.

"I will go to the Allfather and demand that he remove my immortality." Pepper stood frozen in shock, her mouth left gaping. She moved her mouth but no voice came out. "I'd rather spend a few glorious decades with the one I love than spend an eternity without him all the time wondering what could have been."

"Good," Pepper croaked, finally finding her voice. "That's good...unexpected but good." The shock was passing and she came back to herself. When she spoke again it was with her usually present firmness and authority. "Now, what are you waiting for? Get going before Tony moves on completely."

Loki's eyes widened then he nodded and smiled. Taking a few steps back from her, he looked up to the ceiling and shouted for Heimdall. There was a blast of light and he was gone, swallowed up by the Bifrost. Left alone, Pepper continued smiling. Loki was prepared to give up his immortality for Tony. Perhaps he really wasn't that bad after all.

Hope you liked it. Please review?! :)