Disclaimer: I own nothing owned by someone else. I get no money out of this. I just write for fun and practice.

AN: Thanks for reading everyone and thanks for all the kind reviews from before! I hope you enjoy chapter eight of this story…

Tony had flew into the air, grabbing Barton, and had landed atop a building far from the crowds below.

"Alright." Tony said, as soon as they had landed. He wasn't in the mood for bullshit at that moment, "Let's cut to the chase. My guess is, what with Loki's weird reaction to the arrow, that you poisoned him. Am I right?" he asked. It felt strange seeing Clint. It felt strange seeing Loki. He wondered what would happen next… Flying llamas?

The archer sighed in exasperation. He, Clint, always was a stubborn ass.

"Look," Tony started, "I can understand why you'd want the doe-stag to suffer, but if you don't tell me what's wrong with him and how to fix it and he dies because of that then Thor will be after you faster than a jackrabbit on a greasy griddle in the middle of august and he'll be on your tail forever and when I mean forever I really, really mean forever." He finished.

Barton sighed again, less of frustration this time and more of 'I'm annoyed because you have better logic than me'.

"He is poisoned…" He said. "But I don't know what with. I just know it'll hurt like hell and that he'll live in the long run. Thor would know what's wrong with him. Just tell him I used the arrow he gave me on Loki."

"So… it's not supposed to kill him then?" It was official. Tony's life was messed up. His friends consisted of a, probably virgin, war hero from the 1940s, a guy who couldn't overreact about anything without turning into a giant green monster with purple pants, a one thousand year old Norse god with impulsive tendencies, a manipulative assassin who doesn't like goatees, and a vengeful and potentially sadistic former assassin who lives on a farm with three kids and a wife.

"No… It's not supposed to kill him…" Barton said in answer to Tony's question, an ashamed expression creeping ever so slightly on his face.

"You sadistic son of a bitch…" Tony said, calmly. A short and awkward silence came over them before Tony finally said "You do realize that this puts you on the same crazy level as Bambi himself, don't you?" Barton just glared at this remark.

"How dare you? He has—"

"Yeah, can we chat later? I kinda need to go tell Thor about the thing with the reindeer and the poison." Tony interrupted. He had no time to talk and he really didn't feel like arguing with Clint about ethics, or arguing about anything for that matter, so he quickly decided it best to zoom at full speed into the air away from Clint. Clint yelled at him angrily as he left. He soon disappeared from the archer's sight.

A grin crept on his face, ever so slightly. Yes, his life was messed up and crazy, but that's half of what he loved about it and half of what he hated about it and he'd made peace with that fact. All one could do was go with it and see what adventures would come.

..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..

As if the day had not already been stressful, what with the long awaited talk she was finally going to have with Tony, she was now helping Bruce and Steve stitch a Norse mythology god's arm.

She wouldn't let anyone know this but she felt sorry for Loki, really. It looked like it had hurt him, the arrow wound, and she had been relieved when the morphine had kicked in and he was asleep.

It was strange looking at his unmoving body, so peaceful though in so much pain physically and emotionally. If he could look down on himself, he would probably be relieved to be asleep.

His eyelids twitched sometimes and his chest exhaled and inhaled gently, sometimes sharply, but other than that he was as still as a statue, his body looked frail and willowy and his face, though overly pale and tired looking, also looked rather picturesque, like a statue.

Thor had spoken of why Loki was spiteful and angered and out of control… and though he never gave much detail on why Loki was the way he was, he had said there was a reason. Loki was damaged… sad… lonely.

When they had finished stitching Loki up she figured she wasn't needed with much else, sighed and fell onto a couch near the bed they had placed Loki in and she rubbed her temples tiredly.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked as he sat down too, on the couch. Bruce was still working on Loki in any way he could so he didn't join them.

"Yeah…" she said with a sigh, rubbing her eyes that had begun to adopt dark circles. "I'm fine."

She glanced at him, he looked just as tired and stressed as she felt.

"Are youalright?" she asked.

He paused a second, looking at Loki with a serious expression on his face, "I don't understand. Why are we trusting this guy, he's one of our greatest enemies." He said, a glare almost sweeping his face at this point.

"We don't have very many options…" Bruce chimed in, "If we don't find and rescue Odin then Asgard will fall and this doesn't only put Thor and his people's lives in danger, it puts our people's lives in danger too."

"I understand that." Steve said, "I just don't like having to trust him with so much. He's dangerous."

"I don't think anyone wants to have to trust him, Steve," Pepper started, "but if we don't it'll lead to much worse than whatever Loki might have planned for us."

They suddenly heard a crash at the door and Thor rushed, eyes searching wildly around the room until he set them on Loki still lying on the bed.

"Is Loki alright?" he asked as he hastily ran to his brother side, obliviously bumping Bruce and causing him to fall down.

"Ehh… What's up, doc?" Tony strolled in, no longer in his suit of armor. Finally! Tony was here. She would be able to talk to him now. This talk was long overdue and she was not going to have either of them avoid it in any way this time. This had to be done, regardless of how uncomfortable she or he was about it.

"Did Clint tell you anything about… the arrow?" Bruce asked.

"He told me to tell Thor 'he used the arrow Thor gave him on Loki'…"

"Oh." Thor said, his face had lit up with relief at what Tony had said, "It's fatal to humans but it will do no harm to Loki." Everyone sighed at that moment.

Pepper realized this was the time and she stood up, off the couch.

"Tony?" she said as he fell onto the couch with a heap.

"Hmm?" Tony said, eyes closed, head resting on his arms and feet using the bed Loki was laying in as a footrest. The stereotypical relaxation pose and he looked more relaxed than ever. No, she didn't want to disturb Tony when he was relaxing, but she knew they both had to get out of their comfort zones, even if that meant forcing her will and dragging them both out of it into the fields of uncomfortable zones.

"Tony, we need to talk…" she said. He did not seem to have heard her or he was just ignoring, either way she was annoyed. "Tony." She said, firmly and slightly louder.

"What?" he asked drowsily.

"We. Need. To talk." She said.

He groaned and sat up, sighing.

"What's up?" he asked.

"No. Tony, I'd like this to be private." Pepper said, sighing in annoyance and frustration.

"You want me to kick everyone out of here?" Tony asked, his signature grin spreading around his face. "That seems a little harsh, Pep."

"No!" she said, perhaps louder than she had intended to be, "No, I just… You know what I meant." She said. She had had enough of this. Sometimes tony could be so disrespectful and that fact became even more exasperating when you realized he prided himself on his snarky and rude behavior. She had no comprehension as to why she even had the capacity to put up with him.

He sighed and groaned again, before standing up, facing her.

She walked out the room, knowing Tony would follow and soon they were in their bedroom together.

"Alright. What's going on with you, Pep?" Tony asked, looking around the room curiously. He hadn't even been in it for a month! He was always sleeping in his workshop.

"We need to talk about our relationship." Pepper said. She was really hoping this conversation would go better than she thought it would.

"Oooh…" Tony said, suggestively, smiling.

"I'm being serious here, Tony." Pepper said.

"Okay…" he said, caution in his voice. "What about our relationship?"

"You've been…" Pepper paused, "Withdrawn lately. We never talk and you haven't even slept in the same bed with me. What's going on with you, Tony?" she asked, after sighing a sigh of relief. She must have sighed one hundred times that day!

Her heart was pounding in her chest. She wasn't afraid of conflict, but at times, especially with Tony, it made her nervous. She didn't want to unintentionally use the wrong words with him.

He looked at her before sitting on the bed, calmly.

"I'm sorry about that, Pepper." He said, "I've just had a lot of things to do. I'm designing a new suit. I've got avengers stuff to take care of all the time. Freaking Loki appeared out of nowhere and that just crams my schedule even more. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!" He finished, looking up at her with honest eyes. "I just have a tight schedule right now, Pep."

"So you have no time for me? No time at all. Not even a minute?" Pepper asked, looking at him defiantly.

"Pepper. I do everything I do to help others and make life better for you." He said. "Because I care about you."

"You can't even spend an hour with me." Pepper said. It was true, she had just realized then, it was true that Tony hadn't spent an hour with her for quite a ridiculous while.

"Like I said before," Tony started, getting up from the bed and levelly facing her, "I just have a tight schedule right now."

She could feel her eyes welling up. She wished she had a way to hide the inexorable tears to come. She felt so embarrassed.

"Pepper..." Tony said.

"So you have zero time for me, then?" she blurted as warm tears began streaming down her face.

"No, no! I'm just busy right now." Tony said, touching her arm. She shoved him away as she held her hands in her face to hide her tears a little. She didn't want him to feel sorry for her.

"Pepper… This isn't like you…" Tony said.

"Well, this isn't supposed to be like you!" she said as she tried to wipe her eyes with her sleeve.

"You're being hysterical." Tony said. Pepper heated up with all the anger she'd kept inside and she could not stop herself before she slapped him straight in the face.

Tony touched his face a moment before he gently grabbed her arms and she was just so tired that she didn't care she was sobbing on his shoulder.

..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..

After a while Pepper calmed down a little. Tony really hadn't expected her to start crying like that, but he supposed she had had a lot of stress what with all the work she'd been doing.

He felt sorry, but he really was busy with other issues. Thor wanted them to leave to who knows where and Loki was going to be their escort and sometimes Tony wished life was simpler but it wasn't and Pepper knew that well.

"Tony," she said, bending her neck to look at him, "I'm sorry, Tony…" She said.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." Tony said, brushing her hair out of her face, "I can be a real douche sometimes."

"No…" she said, getting up. "I mean I'm sorry because… Tony, my life has been so stressful lately and it just keeps piling on…" she paused and looked at him sadly, "Tony, I… I think we need some time apart for now. Our lives are both just too hectic to mix." Tony was saddened at this. He knew she was right, but he loved Pepper and cherished her greatly. But if he were to be honest with himself he had been falling apart from her romantically. He still cared about her and it wasn't like he had just got bored of her. He was just… The sparks weren't flying anymore. But he'd miss her, though he would still see her all the time, her being his CEO, he'd still miss her, he knew he'd still miss her, but this was a good idea… for both of them he supposed.

"You can use one of the other rooms in the tower—"

"No…" Pepper said as she got up, much calmer than before, "I'll just rent an apartment."

"Are you sure?" Tony asked, "Avengers tower has elevators that go in horizontal directions and instant pancake makers, you sure you want to risk losing that?" he asked as he smiled at her, boyishly.

She smiled too, but her smile seemed sad and tired.

"I have a meeting to go to." She said calmly as she walked out of the room, leaving Tony to his buzzing thoughts.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I really appreciate it. This chapter didn't have much Loki in it but don't worry, the next chapter will have plenty of him in it.

Until next time, and there will be a next time,

P.H.