She placed two wine glasses on the table in between them. The frost giant kept his gaze down on his lap, waiting for the tell tale signs of lift off. He was waiting impatiently for the plane to take off and fly away to his new refuge. He wasn't sure why they hadn't departed yet as they had been sitting there for ten minutes straight. Neither of them had said a single word and the silence still hung heavily around them. Loki could feel Pepper's gaze bore into him and he resisted the urge to fidget.

"Tis' not," Loki responded cooly. "Allow me to get a private call with Lady Pepper Potts."

"Sir," the AI replied. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Loki said. "Please JARVIS. It's important."

He was met with silence for a couple of minutes until abruptly the sound of a phone dial reverberated off the walls of his room. Loki jumped at the sudden beeping, still not entirely used to Midgardian technology. It was not that the technology was too advanced for him - compared to Asgard's technology, Midgard was still stone age - but sudden realization that he was actually carrying out his makeshift plan. He was actually running away.

"Tony?" came Pepper's voice after the third ring. Her voice was light and hesitant as if she was wondering whether or not Tony was calling her sober. He took a breath.

"Lady Potts."

"Loki," she said, voice becoming hard and monotone. "I knew you were trouble. What have you done with Tony?"

"Nothing." Loki said. "Tony is fine. I would never harm him."

"Again."

"Never again," he said, wincing as he remembered his invasion on New York. "That is besides the point. I need...to ask you a favor, one that is very important-"

"Why should I help you?"

"It will perhaps keep Tony out of any danger if done right," he said. "I cannot remain here any longer. I must take my leave tonight at the latest. It is urgent."

There was a pause as Pepper considered everything on the other side of the line. Loki held his breath, hoping her care for the inventor and her hatred for Loki would work in his favor. She would want to keep Tony safe from harm; though she acted distant towards Tony, she still cared a lot about him. Not quite romantically, but Tony was still one of her friends. He understood she stayed away because she was hoping it would help Tony get over their split. Well, that was the reason Loki thought of anyway.

Pepper did not like Loki. She still held a grudge over the invasion, which was understandable. She also thought he had ulterior motives for being at the tower which was understandable, especially with Steve's constant reports. Steve would report on the numerous times Loki allowed him to draw him, the many chess games, and how humorous the frost giant was. Pepper would raise an eyebrow, wary that all that would change in the form of a knife in Steve's back and warned him accordingly. Of course, Pepper was never directly rude or mean to him. She still regarded him, though very cooly, with respect. That was something he could respect her for.

Loki hoped Pepper would take the bite he was offering. A two birds with one stone scenario. If Loki left, she would not have to deal with him. Without having his presence at the tower, Tony would be safer.

"Fine. Where do you plan on going?" She finally responded and Loki mentally cheered.

"Malibu, where I will travel around, but Tony must not know. No one can know but you and I. I need to disappear."

"Loki?"

Pepper's hesitant voice jarred Loki out of his thoughts and back to the present time. He jumped slightly before taking the time to glance out at the windows. It appeared that they were moving, few lights scattered throughout the countryside below. It was still as dark as it was before he fell into his trance. Good. He hadn't withdrawn to his thoughts for too long then.

"We have departed?" Loki asked.

"Yes," Pepper said slowly. "Thirty minutes ago. I asked you if you wanted some scotch?"

He nodded quickly, looking around the cabin but refused to rest his forest-like gaze on the strawberry blonde. She poured the alcoholic beverage into his glass before filling hers in turn. Without another word, Pepper sipped her drink slowly and rested her back against her seat. From the corner of Loki's eye he could see that she was patiently watching him as if to she expected him to say something. Or do something.

Sighing, he finally turned to her and picked up his own glass. He fixed his gaze onto hers as he took a long drag and finally spoke again only when she started to squirm at the uncomfortable length of eye contact. Loki placed his glass back on the table with mild satisfaction. "I assume you want to know the reason behind me asking for this favor."

"Yes. I was hoping it was a good one too, as I had to cancel quite a few conferences for you."

"I must apologize Lady Potts," Loki actually did feel a bit guilty. She didn't have to do that for him.

"It's fine," she shrugged. "Anything to ensure Tony is safe from any harm."

"You care for him, yet you insist on being so distant," Loki asked. "Why?"

"He hates being mothered." Pepper said, eyes narrowing. "I thought giving him some space would keep him from trying to be a rebellious teenager who tries to get himself killed."

"But sometimes people need to be coddled. It distracts them from partaking in activities such as drinking themselves to death in fear of being alone."

"Why do you care so much about him?" Pepper asked. "Or should I ask why do you pretend to?"

"I do not pretend."

"You're a psychopath and you're known as 'the god of lies'. I'm sorry to say, but I'm not convinced that you're not using everyone for your advantage."

"Then why would I be here on this jet, flying across the country to lure my brother away from New York? Why would I go through the trouble of calling you and making sure Tony stays safe at our home?"

"Home?" Pepper raised a brow. "Since when was Stark Towers your home?"

"Since the day Tony elected to care for me instead of tossing me out into the night." Loki hissed. "I do not care if you mistrust or despise me, truly you have all rights to. But at least trust the fact that I am in debt to Tony, and the least I can do is protect him."

The cabin was plunged in silence as the two regarded each other with open glares. They both drained their glasses and Pepper was quick to refill them.

"Fine. So what is this about luring your brother away from New York?" she said once she halfway drained the second glass.

"He is not my brother," Loki said quickly. Pepper smirked; the frost giant had called Thor his brother earlier. She heard him. "But Thor is chasing me down. He arrived a few days ago and demanded that I depart with him. He left but promised to come back. Given the fact that he damaged tower and before my arrival in Midgard he, uhm as Tony says, 'beat the shit out of me', I expect his return to be violent. Personally I do not want to fight him nor do I want to return to Asgard with him. So instead of risking the damage, I've elected to take the coward's way out and flee."

"But what if he goes back to the tower still thinking you're there and takes out a few floors looking for you?" Pepper asked. "You're plan isn't exactly going to ensure Tony's safety."

"I was not finished," Loki said, taking a sip of his drink before continuing. "Before I departed from the tower, I laid down a clue on the balcony for him."

"Which is...?" Pepper asked.

"A letter. The letter is written in Old Norse and therefore none of the Avengers can translate it," he paused. "I hope. I highly doubt anyone will go out to the balcony anytime soon so it should be safe for now. But I need your help in laying down the rest of the bread crumbs."

"How do you propose we do that?"

"Before I answer," Loki said. "I propose we form a short alliance. For the sake of keeping things smooth and successful, I think we both need to set aside our mutual distrust and loathing. We have similar goals after all and a partnership would be logical. I promise to keep you out of harms way if you promise not to betray me in any way."

"Fine," Pepper said after a pause. "But know I can only give you about a week. I'm CEO of a major company and I have things to keep in order. Also, we'll have to include Happy on this. He's currently piloting though."

"Fine."

And the two shook hands before Loki continued.

"It is going to be very risky considering SHIELD and the Midgardian authorities are out there but," Loki grinned. Pepper did not like the sound of that at all. "We need to make a few stops before we reach Malibu, my Lady Potts."

Tony woke up with a strange feeling nudging his insides, just above his arc reactor. It was a sign that something was off but he quickly brushed it aside as he got up to take a shower. He jacked off as he usually did (he may or may not thought about a certain raven-haired man but forcibly pushed him aside for typical busty females), trimmed his goatee, and brushed his teeth. The iron man got dressed in his usual casual band tee with jeans and even stretched before exiting his room. The feeling above the arc reactor remained. Something was off.

He went into the kitchen after the smell of freshly baked muffins lured him in. The captain greeted him with a smile and the two sat down to start eating as they waited for the other residents of the tower to come for breakfast.

Bruce came in once Tony started grabbing for another blueberry muffin to shove down his throat. The three of them made easy conversation until the minutes stretched on. The food they set aside for Loki grew cold and they shrugged it off as the frost giant isolating himself once more.

"I thought you were going to work on that," Bruce said tiredly, wrapping up the two muffins and putting them inside the fridge.

"I am," Tony said. "Just give him some time. Maybe he just overslept or something. He came to my room later than usual last night anyway."

"He did what?" Steve asked, turning a shade pink. "H-He went to your room d-doing what?"

"Fondue." Tony said and grinned when Steve's pallor darkened. "I'm just kidding Spangles. He came in to say goodnight and left."

"Try spending a little more time with him," Bruce suggested.

"I was planning on it." Tony said.

The three went their separate ways after that to do whatever their routine called for. Tony decided to give Loki a few more hours alone before he went in to try to talk to him. The iron man elected to spending those hours of waiting in the workshop to work on a quick project. The feeling above his reactor told him otherwise, but soon he was fully focused on his work.

He didn't even know the day had flown by until JARVIS interrupted him to announce dinner. Shit. Tony quickly scolded the AI for not letting him know when just a couple hours had passed by and made his way to the kitchen. Why hadn't he been notified like he asked? Come to think of it, JARVIS was disturbingly quiet. It was rather odd and Tony made a mental note to update the AI later.

The muffins were still sitting in the fridge and Loki was absent from dinner. The Avengers sat down and asked JARVIS to notify Loki that they would like him to attend dinner. JARVIS did notify Loki, but unknown to them, the AI relayed the message to the frost giant in the cabin of the jet many miles away from the tower. Loki politely refused, somewhat surprised that they still did not notice his absence. But oh, they would know soon enough, he thought as the jet landed in an open field. They'd know.

After waiting for several more minutes, the three men grew extremely worried. The captain had cooked chicken with broccoli casserole; that was one of Loki's favorite dishes that Steve cooked. He always came quickly when Steve cooked casserole.

The three of them sat in fear as theories of why Loki seemed so quiet all day settled in. Tony had to speak up in order to dodge one particular idea in his head that maybe the frost giant had had enough and somehow found a way to off himself-

"I'll go check on him," Tony said suddenly. He jumped up and practically ran down the hallway to Loki's room. He felt his heart beat frantically as he banged on the door. Why did he even go to his workshop? Why hadn't JARVIS let him know the time that had passed? He felt horrible for leaving Loki alone all day.

"Lokes?" he called out, banging still. After no response, he twisted the door knob to find the door open. He pushed his way inside and was met with darkness. Quickly, he flicked on the lights and looked around. It looked like the room was vacant. There was no traces of Loki's belongings or Loki himself. Puzzled, Tony walked around in search for the frost giant. He wasn't there.

A cold chill ran down his back and that feeling above his arc reactor pulsed. He was gone. Tony asked JARVIS if Loki was even in the tower. The AI responded by giving him the departure time of the raven haired man. He was gone. And that was when Tony noticed a small slip of paper on the bed's pillows. He picked it up - it was a letter from Loki, addressed to him. His dark brown eyes scanned it quickly before his mouth fell open and he let it drop to the floor before he joined it.

Tony laid there feeling as if his nonexistent heart had been pounded out of his chest. Even worse was the sour taste that came with failing to keep a promise and the emptiness a significant other leaves behind when they walk out.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! It's been over a week since last update - still no DiCaprio pictures. Oh well. I saw Captain America: A Winter Soldier and it was AWESOME! I believe NCIS FTW stated that their favorite Avenger is Steve and I can see why! Originally I wasn't a big fan of him but I've warmed up to him a lot. Same with Bucky. I /might/ write a fic centering around them later, not sure yet, but knowing me I might stick frostiron in there somewhere. It's hard for me to write a Marvel related fic without either of my two babies, haha.

ANYWAY! Uhm, sorry I ranted. Thanks for the views and support please enjoy~