AN: I'm not sure how this one is going to go down, but I've dissected it four or five times and I can't put it together any other way, and I'm sick of looking at it now so, enjoy, I hope.

Chapter Sixteen

Loki was laid on the bed in his room, since it was a 'night off' Parker had returned him back to the tower earlier than most nights and it had only just passed 1am. They'd watched movies in Parker's room and eaten a hot meal which his aunt had prepared and left out for him.

So now he was relaxing, he had taken off his body armour, but not his hoodie or mask, and was reading one of the books that Stark had given him.

He'd selected this one simply because it had been at the top of the small pile, and he had found himself easily drawn into the story. Annie had just handed Paul a box of blue diamond tip matches, and she wanted him to burn Fast Cars and Loki could not see how Paul would be able to get out of the situation. He found himself asking, 'yes, can you, Paulie?'

He heard a knock on his door and groaned, making sure to stick a scrap of paper between the pages so he didn't loose his place, he sat up and looked at the door, "Who is it?" an almost perfunctory question since it really could only be one of two people, neither of whom he particularly felt like conversing with, but he may not be given a choice in the matter.

"It's…" there was a pause of consideration, "Bruce Banner, may I come in?"

Loki knew that the option to say 'no' didn't really exist.

"The door is unlocked," he said. Banner could count that as close to an invitation as he would give.

The door handle turned and Banner entered, he looked tired and worn, the arm of his glasses held between his finger tips as he wiped his forehead and then replaced them on his face. Loki noted that his shirt was crumpled and damp, particularly along the shoulder, two spots on the chest looked from the crumpled patterns that they'd been pulled and held by two fists and he wondered exactly what the doctor had been up to, to look even more dishevelled than normally looked.

"I, er, wanted to thank you," said Banner, barely lifting his gaze upwards, "for coming to tell me about Tony."

Oh yeah, that.

"Thanks are not necessary," said Loki.

"I think they are," said Banner, "you went out of your way, the both of you, to tell me so I could help him. I just… I just don't understand why."

So that I didn't get the blame if he got so drunk he went outside and fell off the platform in his penthouse? So he didn't choke on his own vomit and fall down the stairs? So he didn't stink up the kitchen I use by covering it in his own drunken feculence? That's not really what you want to hear though, is it, Banner?

"He was in pain," said Loki, "he needed you."

Banner pointed to the chair by his desk, "May I?" he asked. Loki nodded after a few seconds and the doctor pulled out the chair and sat on it, facing him. "Do you know what happened?"

"I do not," said Loki, "I simply thought it best if you were made aware of the situation."

"Well his ex turned up," said Banner, running his hand through his unkempt hair, "I don't so much think it's set him back as, I think he's finally realised that it's definitely over between them. He's a little heartbroken, but to be honest, he was heading this way before she left."

"Why are you telling me this, Banner?" asked Loki, displeased that his reading had been interrupted and his room invaded by the beast. "The details of Stark's love life are not something which I care to spend my nights mulling over."

"Because I can't be around here twenty four hours a day," said Banner, "between the Avengers, working with Tony trying to figure out where these robots that were attacking the streets came from, the odd day I actually get to do my own work, my commitments to the free clinic and the trauma centre, I can be with him as much as I can, but sometimes I actually need to leave the tower and he doesn't leave much these days. Well, apart from he's sneaking off to a bar to get drunk."

"Oh, Banner," said Loki, sitting forward, "I hope you're not about to ask me to become Starks glorified baby sitter."

"No, no," said Banner, shaking his head, "just, I'm going to cut back on my obligations as much as I can. I know he's my responsibility to take care of, but on the days if I absolutely must leave, if he starts drinking heavily, just ask Jarvis to call me, or come get me, like tonight, if you have to leave to do your own thing. I know I'm the one who has to take care of him, it's just I'll go crazy if I'm locked up in here all the time."

"Just call you?" said Loki, "Or inform you in person if it feasible? That's all you're asking?"

"Yes," said Banner, "just get Jarvis to call me."

"I have but one question," said Loki.

"Yes?"

"Who is Jarvis?"

Banner seemed completely thrown by Loki's question, but Loki didn't think it was entirely unreasonable, he hadn't been introduced to any Jarvis in the tower. Was he expected to memorise the names and faces of every person who worked there?

"You don't know who Jarvis is?" said Banner.

"I thought I had inferred that by asking 'who is Jarvis?'" said Loki, "I had been informed that you were supposed to be a genius, Banner, clearly I was deceived."

"No, it's just…" said Banner, "Jarvis? Can you hear me?"

Loki looked around the room to see who the hell it was Banner was talking to, "Is Jarvis a voice inside your head, Banner?"

"He's the tower's computer system," said Banner, "he must not have a presence in your room."

Banner stood to his feet and opened the door to Loki's room, he watched curiously as Banner stepped into the hallway and repeated his question and to Loki's surprise, he heard a male voice respond. Banner came back into the room and retook his seat.

"Yeah, there are no cameras or mics in your room so he can't hear me in here," said Banner, "but 99% of the rest of the building, he's around. Just call out 'Jarvis' and he'll talk to you."

"This is most interesting," said Loki, "it would have been helpful to know prior to this."

"To be honest I thought you would have known about him by now," said Banner, "he pretty much regulates the building. He's a very smart computer, but at the end of the day, he's still a computer, so if Tony goes on a bender, and tells him not to tell anyone, he won't."

"I understand," said Loki, "all right, it's not an unreasonable request," he paused and sighed, "and to a degree I understand how you much be feeling about the situation with Stark. Since I am here, I an unable to watch my brother to the extent I used to watch over him and it leaves me with a certain amount of, anxiety, shall we say? Anxiety that I am not there to protect him at all times."

Banner's breath hitched. "He's not," he said, "he's not living rough though is he? I mean, he does have a place to go to and be looked after. You weren't lying before were you? He does have a relative he's staying with?"

"Of course," said Loki, "what kind of monster do you think I am? If there were no one else, then I would have had no choice but to bring him here alongside me, but he has an aunt. He needs as much of a normal life as he can get."

"I remember normal life," said Banner, "it was a brief period in '89 I think, about two months, it was pretty nice."

"I've made a lot of mistakes," said Loki, "I don't want him to go down the road that I went down, he's a smart boy."

"How smart?" asked Banner, "maybe I could…"

"Forget it, Banner," said Loki, "this is not the start of a beautiful friendship. We wear masks for a reason, I do not want him revealing his identity to anyone and I do not want him hanging around this tower, thinking that one day being an Avenger, losing his anonymity, giving up any chance of having a normal life is a good idea."

"Sorry," muttered Banner, "you know what's best for him, of course."

"Just as you know what is best for Stark," said Loki, "even if he fights you all the way."

"It's late," said Banner, standing, "I should leave you to your evening. Thank you for speaking to me."

x-x-x

Loki really did not think that Banners request would come into play as quickly as it did. Two nights after Banner had appeared in his room, he was out of the tower at some medical place or another in the city, trying to do his part to make up for the beast inside him. Parker was at his internship and so wouldn't be picking up Loki until later than normal, leaving Loki with nothing to do but either read or wander around the areas of the tower he had permission to be in.

Of course, he'd never been explicitly told he was banned from Stark's workshop, so when he hit the elevator down button, he quietly hummed to himself, trying to appear innocent, until the doors opened and he poked his head inside, seeing benches laid out with tools and broken robots in various stages of disassembly. He knew he could claim he'd come down for some innocuous reason if questioned, but he really wanted to see if Stark had any tools which may pry the damned magic blocking rune bracelet from his wrist.

He had assumed at first he was alone, but Stark was sat silently on the floor, behind one of the benches not noticing Loki's presence, rolling a bottle of alcohol between his hands.

Loki cursed under his breath and then walked around the bench, looking down at Stark, "How much of that have you drank?"

"Haven't opened it yet," said Stark, "you're not supposed to be down here."

"My staff's cracked," said Loki, "needed to borrow a tool to repair it."

"Staff?" said Stark, "I've seen that stupid thing you lug around, it looks more like a broom handle to me."

"It is a broom handle," said Loki.

"Why do you use a broom handle?" said Stark, looking up at him, "why don't you get a proper weapon?"

"You'd be surprised how few people want to give away their proper fighting staffs," said Loki, "not a great abundance to be found on the city streets."

"I bet ya I could build one," said Tony, "collapsible, easy to carry, still strong when it's extended."

"Yes, I'm sure you could," said Loki, "but I could not, so may I borrow a tool to repair my broom handle?"

Stark looked up at him, "No, get the fuck out of my workshop."

Loki stretched his hand down, "Give me the bottle, Stark."

"No," he said, pulling it towards himself, "this is mine, I'm going to drink it, get shit-faced, it's what I do."

"If you do not relinquish it," said Loki, "I will be forced to call Banner and he will return and make you relinquish it."

Tony unscrewed the lid from the bottle and took a long drink, "No one asked you to be my babysitter, fuck off, Puck."

Loki sighed, it would be so easy to end all of this now by strangling Stark to death, finding something to break the damn bracelet off with and then finding a really good hiding place. So very easy, such a small, easily breakable neck, one hand would probably do it. He could picture the sound of the snap now, it was probably the most satisfying sound in the world.

He groaned. "Jarvis?" said Loki, he'd not had an occasion to summon the computer as Banner had told him to, and he was unsure if he was simply making a fool of himself.

"Yes, Sir?" said a voice from the ceiling.

Loki looked up automatically, "Would you please call Doctor Banner and inform him his presence is required in the tower."

"Right away, sir," said the computer.

"Jarvis, disregard," said Stark, standing to his feet, "do not take commands from Shadow."

"As you wish, sir," said Jarvis.

Loki growled, "Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?" said the computer.

"If Stark's life was in danger, and he was unable to speak to you himself, would you bypass his order and allow me to issue you a command?" asked Loki.

"Yes, sir," said Jarvis.

"Ok, good," said Loki, and he punched Stark square in the jaw, dislocating it instantly, he guessed from the popping sound it made, knocking him to the floor, and causing him to drop the bottle which shattered on the floor, spilling it's contents. "Well, that solves that problem."

Stark held his jaw and writhed in agony on the ground, it was a sight which filled Loki with a deep sense of satisfaction. Then he considered how much trouble he was going to get in over this and how likely it was that he'd either end up in the detention cells, or worse, that SHIELD would be called straight away and he'd be well and truly fucked.

He held out his hand to Stark, "If you allow me, I can fix your jaw for you now," he said, "or you can wait until Banner arrives, which may take him some time, and he can fix it for you."

Stark glared up at him, seeming to consider the two options and just as Loki had started planning an apology note to Parker in his head for screwing his life up, Stark held out his hand and Loki pulled him to his feet. He pushed a bunch of tools off the work bench, out of the way, ignoring Stark's protestations and then ordered him to jump up onto the work bench.

Stark complied and Loki placed his hands on either side of Stark's face, "This will hurt for a moment," he said, and then pushed the jaw back in place, where there was a massive pop and Stark let out a yelp of pain, but before he could pull away, Loki used a little magic, he didn't have to use much, to heal the soreness.

He released his hold and stood back, "Better?"

Stark nodded and rubbed his jaw, "That was completely uncalled for, Puck."

"You left me with little option," said Loki, "Banner was quite insistent that you not be permitted to kill yourself."

"Sir," said the computer, "can you handle this situation, or do you wish for me to call the Avengers to help restrain your house guest?"

"No thanks, Jarvis," said Stark, "I got this one."

"As you wish, sir," said Jarvis.

Stark launched himself off the workbench at Loki, and it actually caught him off guard enough to knock him to the ground, bashing his head off a solid metal piece of equipment on the way down, which might have been hard enough to kill him if he'd been a Midgardian, but as it was, barely left him dazed.

"You fucking shit," Stark spat at him, "who the fuck do you think you are? I don't need a fucking baby sitter."

"Banner seems to think otherwise," said Loki, grabbing Stark's wrists and trying to pull him back since he was now pinned beneath him and the knock to the head had slowed him somewhat.

"Do not tell me that Bruce asked you to baby sit me," said Stark.

"Well he did!" said Loki.

Stark's face changed somewhat then, the expression of anger shifting into disbelief.

"Why?" he asked, pulling up, letting go of Loki's arms.

Loki actually felt sorry for him, Parker must be making his brains go soft.

"Because he's scared you're going to die," said Loki, "he's scared he's going to leave you alone for a few hours, and when he comes back you'll be lying dead, having drank yourself to death. So he was that desperate, he came to me, a person who has made no secret of his dislike, he put himself in that situation for you."

Stark seemed to consider this seriously for a few minutes, then he looked down at Loki, "Huh, well, poor Brucie," he said, then he tilted his head curiously, "your eyes."

Loki panicked, realising that in the scuffle his hood had been knocked back completely, and it lent so much to creating a shadow over his cowl, helping to disguise his face, his stomach knotted with dread, he might be snapping Stark's neck after all.

"Think it's the first time I've actually seen 'em," said Stark, "was beginning to suspect that you didn't even have them. Wouldn't have guessed green. Blue, maybe. Not sure why."

"Um," said Loki, "as fascinating as this is, think you can get off me now, Stark?"

"Er, yeah," said Stark, lifting himself and standing up, "sorry."

Loki pushed himself up on his elbows and then stood himself, pulling his hood back over his face. "Well I did dislocate your jaw, it was probably justified."

There was a long awkward silence between them, Loki was really beginning to regret not just wrapping his fingers around Stark's neck and saving himself the horrid, awkward silence.

"You want a beer?" asked Stark.

"You're not supposed to be drinking," said Loki.

"Beer isn't drinking," said Stark, "whiskey is my problem really, and vodka, occasionally brandy, touch of rum now and then, but Bruce doesn't really worry about beer."

"All right then," said Loki, hoping to placate Stark until either Parker or Banner arrived, he really didn't care which, as long as he wasn't going to be locked away for punching Stark in the face, as enjoyable as it was.

They got into the elevator and went up to Stark's penthouse since he had beer in fridge there, and Stark brought out a six pack, placing it on the coffee table, insisting they both sit on the sofa while he opened two and passed one to Loki, tapping the bottom of the bottles together.

"Cheers," said Stark.

"Yeah, cheers," said Loki, he took a sip of the beer, it tasted much like Asgardian ale, or at least a very much watered down version, never one of his favourite drinks, but he could sip it without fuss.

"I'll put on a movie," said Stark.

Fan-fucking-tastic, this is just what you get for not choking the life out of him and having done with it, consequences be damned. I hope you're happy with yourself now, Loki, you complete and utter arse.

Stark got up and flicked through several boxes and then selected a movie and place it inside the dvd player and then sat back on the couch with Loki, both drinking silently as the movie began playing.

Loki wondered if this was about to become a regular part of his life in the tower, having to sit with Stark and watch movies with him to make sure he didn't drown himself in alcohol. He supposed if it was just sitting and watching a movie, it wouldn't be that bad of a punishment.

The film seemed to be about a group of teenagers drinking on a beach, then two broke away from the group to go swimming, the girl in the movie stripped off her girls and dove into the water, Loki sipped his beer, he hoped the whole movie wasn't like this. Then suddenly there was something watching the girl from below, and she was tugged down, and began panicking and Loki sat forward as the girl on the screen began thrashing about and screaming in the water.

"Holy shit," said Stark, "have you not seen this before?"

Oh shit, arse, tit, wank, fuck, bollocks.

This was clearly another 'Jurassic Park' situation, and since there would be no way of guessing what the rest of the movie would be like, Loki's choices were, confess that he hadn't, or strangle Stark to death. It was an incredibly tough decision. His hand twitched.

"No, I haven't" said Loki, "I wasn't allowed to watch movies when I was growing up."

"Holy shit, Puck," said Stark, and he looked positively delighted, which surprised Loki to no end, "I've never watched this with someone who hasn't seen it before, oh sit back man, you're going to fucking love it."

Loki sat back and they watched. Three beers each later, Stark got up and retrieved another six pack, at one point Loki had, had to grip the sofa to physically restrain himself from jumping out of the seat as one of the characters had been exploring a damaged boat under water and a head had suddenly floated out towards him. Now the three men in the movie were on a boat, trying to catch the monstrous fish which has been tearing apart the people on the screen, and just as the Sheriff doled a ladle of blood into the water, the monster appeared and Loki couldn't stop himself from jumping that time.

"OH, SHIT!" he shouted.

Stark tittered to himself, Loki had to stop watching these movies with people expecting him to jump out of his seat at the surprising parts. They'd both downed a forth beer by the time the movie had ended and Loki's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest from how much he'd enjoyed watching it. Stark opened two fresh bottles and handed him one which he took a drink from straight away.

"Wasn't that awesome?" said Stark.

"Yes," said Loki, he couldn't disagree, "I think it was excellent."

"What was your favourite part?" he said, with a kind of excited gleam in his eyes.

"I enjoyed the camaraderie on the boat," said Loki, "I must say though, this may be almost as good as my favourite movie."

"What is your favourite movie?" asked Stark.

"Jurassic Park," Loki answered straight away. He licked his lips, his mouth and tongue had felt dry throughout the film, despite the beer, he wondered if the beer had an affect to dehydrate as he'd briefly noticed Stark doing the same thing at various points as they'd been sat together.

"Oh, the bit where the raptor comes through the pipes?" said Stark, "I swear the first time I saw that movie, I jumped right out of my seat."

"As did I," said Loki, taking another drink of his beer.

"Want to watch another?" said Stark, "You like monster movies, right? I'll put on Rogue, it's about a giant crocodile, you'll love it."

It took another beer, but Loki was becoming acutely aware of something as the completely terrifying, gigantic crocodile ripped apart another character on the screen. He and Stark had begun the evening at opposite ends of the sofa, but somehow between getting up to change dvds and reaching for more beer and Loki continually jumping out of his seat, they'd edged closer together, and this was beginning to make Loki feel very uncomfortable.

He wasn't sure if it was the beer or the movies, but he had a certain pounding in his chest, and he wasn't entirely sure if Stark was trying to just lull him into a false sense of security in order to rip off his mask. He thanked the gods silently in his head for the domino which would provide him with some extra protective if Stark tried anything.

"May I use your facilities?" he asked, standing up.

"Huh? Sure," said Tony, pausing the movie, "it's through there," he pointed at the bedroom door, "too many beers huh?"

"Yes," said Loki, and he hurried to the bathroom, discovering that when he reached the toilet he did actually need to relieve himself, so he did and zipped himself back up, washing his hands and then exiting the bathroom, finding himself face to face with Stark, well almost face to face, he was taller than the Iron Man.

"Needed to go myself," said Stark.

"Oh right," said Loki, stepping to the right, to move out of Stark's way, only to find Stark had stepped to the right also, they both made a nervous laugh, and Loki stepped to the left and Stark did the same, and so Loki put his hand out, signalling Stark to stop moving and they he stepped back to the right, getting out of Stark's way completely and went back into the main room, sitting himself back on the end of the sofa where he had started the night.

He picked up his beer, draining the contents and opened a new one, after a few minutes, Stark returned and sat back on the sofa, more towards the middle.

"You know," he said, taking a drink from his own beer bottle, "I've been wondering how the hell you even see the movie with that hood covering half your face."

"I can see fine," said Loki taking a drink, "if I couldn't I would have pulled it up a bit."

So Stark was attempting to de-mask him, the devious bastard, if his hand comes within six inches of my face I'll snap his fingers off.

"Whatever you say," said Stark, un-pausing the movie.

They continued to watch, but Loki couldn't help keeping his eye trained now on Stark, his hand was twitching, he was continually licking his lips, his eyes seemed to glance at Loki every so often and his entire behaviour was making Loki nervous, a bubble of anticipation forming in his chest.

Stark moved as if he was about to moved across the sofa, then stopped, running his hands through his hair in frustration, pausing the dvd again, and Loki looked at him.

"Fuck, fuck," said Stark.

"What is it?" asked Loki, "what's wrong with you?"

"I don't know why I'm doing this," said Stark.

Doing WHAT, Stark you infuriating mortal? Attempting to de-mask me? Attempting to get me drunk on your pitiful ale? Trying to tempt me into snapping your neck? Showing me a movie I haven't seen before? What the hell are you talking about?

"Because I like monster movies?" he said eventually, having absolutely no idea what the man was talking about.

"No. Shit," said Stark, standing up, "I was, Jesus Christ, I don't even know why I was doing it. Lonely, I guess, too many beers, sorry."

"What on earth are you drivelling about?" asked Loki, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Stark. Will you just make yourself clear for once? Why are you behaving like this?"

"Oh, fuck it," said Stark, "we're not friends anyway."

And the next thing Loki knew Starks fingers were around his cheeks and his lips were pressing against his mouth.

AN: And so begins a fun game in which you try to guess the three books which Tony gave to Loki, as I'm positive that's what you're all wondering about right now. It's a pretty easy game, I drop lots of very easy clues, and if you're at all familiar with them you should know straight away.

I mean that's what you're all thinking about right now, right?

The three people reading this who actually KNOW what they are aren't allowed to play, that's the rule.

(P.S The next chapter is a Tony Chapter..)