Nik woke several days later feeling groggy and empty. Nik felt like he had been torn apart. Everything seemed to hurt yet he felt numb. Hollow even. "Are you okay?" Nik flinched at the voice. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he saw Tony sitting by the bed he was laying on. A quick inspection of the room revealed it to be Nik's bedroom at Stark Tower.
"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you. But dammit Nik, this is the most life I've seen out of you in the last few days. The months and weeks leading up to the Expo, you've been weird. Worryingly so. And I get it, stress does weird shit to people. Which just reinforces the fact that I think you need a break. A vacation or something. Now that the Expo is over, thank God, you could take some time for yourself."
Halfway through his ramblings, Tony had gotten up and was pacing around the room. One hand in his hair as the other gestured about wildly. Nik tried to speak but no noise came. He found a glass of water on the nightstand and took a sip to clear his dry throat. "Tony! I am fine. I don't need any time off."
"You wanna try that again when you haven't spent the last four days in a coma? For fuck's sake, Nik you scared the shit out of me. There I was giving the speech you worked so hard on only to have it ruined halfway by torturous screams. And I know what that's like. To be tortured until you scream yourself hoarse from pain. I remember."
Nik quickly stood up from the bed. He began making his way over to the clearly distraught man, but he didn't get far when he felt a pain and something tugging on his arm. He looked down in confusion to find an IV in his right hand. He roughly pulled it out and gently grabbed both of Tony's shoulders. By now the brunette's eyes were glazed over. Lost in painful memories. He was having a hard time catching his breath.
"You are safe inside Stark Tower in New York. You are not in that cave anymore. Ok? I need you to take some deep breaths with me. In through your nose. One. Two. Three. Slowly out through your mouth. One. Two. Three." Still in a fog, Tony's breathing started to become stable. "You are doing so good Tony. Keep going. In….and….Out." Gradually Tony's eyes became focused. Nik took Tony's face in his hands to better look him in the eyes. "Anthony? Are you with me?"
Tony swatted Nik's hands away. "Ew don't call me Anthony. And what are you doing out of bed!?" Tony grasped Nik's shoulders, turned him around and started walking him back to the bed. "Stay. Did you pull the IV out? Dammit Nik, now I'm gonna have to find someone to put it back in. I don't do needles." Nik sat on the bed, letting Tony fuss over him. "I don't need the IV Tony. I'm fine now." Tony didn't look convinced.
"Ok. So you wanna tell me what happened?" "Not really." Tony gave Nik a stern look. "Tony, I've been awake for maybe half an hour after being unconscious for the last three or four days. Give me some time to figure everything out first and I promise I'll tell you." Tony continued to stare at him, reading him.
"Yeah. Ok. That's fair. But know that you really freaked us out. I'm not just talking about me Nik. Pep and Happy were pretty upset. They said you were fine. Going over some stuff on the StarkPad and then the next you were on the ground." "You'll let them know I'm ok?" Tony walked over to the door and opened it. "I'll tell them that you woke up and I'll try to give you a few days off but I need you. You keep me sane." Nik thought he saw a look of yearning in Tony's eyes. ~That doesn't make sense. What would Tony be longing for? Not me? He's clearly a woman's man.~
Now conscious and alone, Nik was able to meditate on what had happened. He couldn't feel Loki at all. It was true that over the decades, their connection had diminished, but Nik could sense Loki somehow. Either by his feelings, his magic, or just his life force.
However he wasn't picking up anything. Not from the soul bond nor from the magic rune. He felt broken and sick. ~What does this mean if I can't sense him? Is Loki...dead?~ No sooner did he think it did he find himself running to the bathroom to throw up. When he was done, Nik grabbed the mouthwash and rinsed his mouth out. He was sweaty and cold. He took a quick shower, put on some pajamas and crawled into bed.
~How could Loki be dead? His prince was always careful and clever. What could have possibly happened to kill his love?~ Nik felt a hateful anger bubble up beneath the sorrow and grief. ~Will I die too if Loki really is gone? Isn't that how the soul bond works? I wish I could speak to Frigga. I will find out who or what killed Loki and I will destroy them. I'll have to tell Tony something. Should I be honest and tell him the truth about everything? Would he even believe me?~