Eighty Seven
Loki's view
The next day came all too early. I hadn't slept well. I missed Tony curled up against my side. His warmth, his fingers curling into my hair as he slept. My fingers stretched out across the Arc Reactor embedded in his chest, the piece of machinery keeping him alive. I always had an affinity for the chunk of metal. It was quite beautiful.
I shook my head of the thought. He betrayed me, he slept with my brother. I hated him. Or I thought I did. At second thought, I loved him too much to hate him. Let's just say, I'm upset with him until I know the truth.
"Uncle Loki? Are you awake?" A tiny voice came from underneath the door. I magicked on some clothes and knelt down to speak underneath the door.
"No, I'm not awake. Does your mommy have breakfast ready?" I responded.
"I don't know. I'll go check." I heard little footsteps run down the hall. I got up and straightened my clothes. I magicked back the box that Tony had been working on. I sat holding it, pondering over my lovers confusing actions. I pondered over my conflicting feelings.
"Loki, breakfast is ready." Îrben pushed the door open. "My daughter tells me you were talking in your sleep."
"Aeyrn is adorable isn't she?" I said sadly.
"You'll have your own one day."
"I remember Malrin's vision. I also remember she couldn't make out who the other parent was." I reminded him.
"I remember my wife saw blue in her vision. I naturally assumed Jotun or Kree. She also saw a pattern in the blue. It was something she didn't recognize. It was two geometric shapes, one laid into the other. I'll ask her about it later, see if she's gotten any more out of the vision."
"Maybe it was for the best." I sighed, setting the box down on the dresser. "Let's get to it."
I teleported us into Tony's garage at the tower. Îrben was curious about all the machinery. I reminded him of our mission.
"Welcome back, sir. Should I let Mr. Stark know you are home? He is miserable without you." Jarvis startled us.
"No! Do not let Tony know I'm here." I sharply yelled at the computer.
"What is that?" Îrben looked afraid.
"It's just Jarvis. He runs the house. Actually Jarvis, you can help. Where is Tony?"
"Mr. Stark is in the lab with Dr. Banner."
"Good. Îrben I'm going to have Jarvis lead you to Tony. I have something to do here."
"Okay, I'll find the truth for you." Îrben nodded. I worked a little shape shifting magic and my friend became a large black cat with bright blue eyes.
"Follow the arrows laid out on the floor, they'll lead you to Tony. Good luck, old friend." I gave him a kiss on the head and he padded off.
I approached the console in the garage, easily pulling up Jarvis's parameters. Tony had been working on very little. This was surprising as he usually had multitudes of projects running. He was currently working on that confounded drone project for that insufferable Nick Fury. He did have two encrypted programs running on his private server.
"Jarvis, what are the encrypted programs Tony's running?"
"They are password encoded, sir." Jarvis chirped. I rolled my eyes.
"Password, I heart ascots." I laughed remembering why he chose this password. Something about never being caught dead saying it aloud.
"Access granted." Chirped Jarvis. I scanned through both files. One of the two programs was the translation of all of my books in Elvish, including my journal that I left behind. At least he was being resourceful. The other was the restoration of surveillance footage of that night in question.
That night in question. It will haunt me until I knew the truth. And then I will kill my beloved Tony for cheating on me with my own brother.
"Jarvis, put a move on that restoration. I want it complete and downloaded to my phone before I leave." I commanded.
"Yes, sir."
I had the sudden urge to destroy something of his. The Ironman suit was tempting but out of range. I walked along Tony's line of cars. Tony's precious cars. My fingertips grazing the paint. Thought about the last few days without him. Due to the time different between Midgard and Alfheim, it had been weeks for him. Thought about what he may have done in those last few weeks.
"Jarvis, a little music to get revenge by, if you would." I requested of the very helpful computer. Jarvis seemed to be thinking what I was thinking and laid the plans for my destruction.
"Playing 'Before He Cheats' by Carrie Underwood." Jarvis chirped.
"Right now, he's probably slow dancing with a bleached blonde tramp and she's probably getting frisky. Right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink cause she can't shoot whiskey. Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool stick, showing her how to shoot a combo. And he don't know…" The music sang. I felt I could relate. I could envision Tony doing this with his new fling, or even Thor. I growled thinking about that again.
"I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up four wheel drive. Carved my name into his leather seats. Took a Louisville slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats." The song continued.
"What is a Louisville slugger?" I asked of Jarvis.
"A wooden baseball." Jarvis brought up an image that I was able to copy in conjuring.
"Right now, she's probably up singing some white trash version of Shania karaoke. Right now, she's probably saying 'I'm drunk', and he's thinking that he's gonna get lucky. Right now, he's probably dabbing on three dollars worth of that bathroom Polo. And he don't know…"
"I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up four wheel drive. Carved my name into his leather seats. Took a Louisville slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats." I followed along with the song, vandalizing my ex's cars. It felt good releasing some frustrations. Tony better learn not to cheat on a god. My damaging his vehicles was the least of his problems.
"I might have saved a little trouble for the next girl. Cause the next time that he cheats, oh you know it won't be on me. I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up four wheel drive. Carved my name into his leather seats. Took a Louisville slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats." The song finished up as I finished up vandalizing all five cars sitting in the garage. I hoped he got the message this way. I stood over my handiwork, admiring the chaos I'd created.
"Sir, Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner are on their way, and your friend is trapped in the lab." Jarvis finally spoke.
"Is my download done?"
"Yes, sir. And downloaded to your phone."
"Good. Play that song again as they get down here. Hopefully, this isn't goodbye."
"Yes, sir. Someone needs to keep Mr. Stark in line." Jarvis quipped. I laughed and teleported to just outside the lab doors. I quietly watched as Bruce led my very weary looking former lover to the elevator. I reached out to him. I just hoped between Îrben's insight and the restored video on my phone, everything would be cleared up and I could return to him. I longed to wipe the tears from his face and make sure he's taken care of.
I teleported into the locked room, gathered up the cat that was my friend and teleported to Alfheim. I brought Îrben back to his Elven aspect before we decided to have a small rest and lunch before trying to piece together what we'd discovered.