Chapter Four

Loki and Odin were seated with the other Gods of Asgard holding court beneath the ash tree, Yggdrasil, when Thor arrived.

"My son." Odin greeted the returning prince.

Thor gave an obligatory, "Father", before zeroing in on Loki. "Loki-"

"Brother. Greetings, do sit we were discussing the differences between the Midgard and Asgard realms."

Thor took his court seat realising he must allow the court's discussion to be concluded before he could truly approach his query with Loki. Having just returned from Midgard himself he was called upon to contribute to the day's debate.

Once it had drawn to a close and the Gods had dispersed to continue their day, Thor moved to follow Loki as he moved away from Yggdrasil.

"Brother, I must ask you whether you have seen the Man of Iron. I have been searching for him for many moons and I have not found him upon Midgard, is he here with you?"

Loki turned to scrutinise the God of Thunder, unsure he should release Tony's location to him and whether Tony would want or benefit from seeing the man. Thor, on observation, seemed to have shrunk in the intervening months since he and Tony had left Midgard, he looked near to defeat and truly did not look as he should.

Tony had improved significantly since they had arrived, while he would probably not trust any of the Avengers to the extent he once had, the presence and persistence of Frigga's mothering and Odin's gruff father-like presence had slowly reopened the scientist to the possibility of trusting other beings again. He had relaxed into the Asgardian lifestyle and was furiously documenting any and all anomalies of this realm over his mother-realm. Their relationship had blossomed and Loki could no longer see his long immortal life without the scientist. He had been talking to Odin in confidence about allowing Tony to partake of the Golden Apples of Idunn, the produce that sustains the lifespan of him and his kindred.

Thor was nervous under Loki's considering gaze and voiced a quiet "Please..." in a desperate plea for Loki to favour him an answer. However, before Loki could answer his brother in either way the figure of their discussed walked towards them, head buried in notes, pen behind his ear and mouth moving a mile a minute.

"Loki, the anoxic properties of the water here are amazing, blows biology and physics out of the water – literally - that the atmospheric oxygen is not transferred into the water and the life forms I found, that serpent – serious temper on that one, he didn't like the needle, I only wanted a small sample… talking samples I've been meaning to get one off you too. I want to compare our DNA structure." Out of nowhere the man produced a needle jabbing it into Loki's exposed arm once he was within range.

"Anthony, a little warning next time please, you know I will indulge you." Loki smiled.

"Tony-?" choked out Thor.

The man stiffened briefly at the familiar voice before turning to the God of Thunder and plastering a smile across his features. "Shakespeare, how's things? Love to stay and chat but I really do need to run this back to my lab, you know experiments and all manner of things I would explain but it would go straight over your head." Waving the needle in his hand, he started backing away, returning from where he had come.

Before he had moved more than a few steps Loki drew the man back to him, "My heart, stay briefly and talk to Thor."

He turned in Loki's embrace and looked at the man facing him. "Want me back do you? I have no intention of going anywhere near you or the rest of the team." He bit out at the God in front of him.

"Tony," Thor pleaded, "there is no team, we disbanded months ago, we have been searching for you, as your friends."

"Friends trust each other Point Break. So technically us – definitely, not friends."

"We did not intend for it to appear that way when Clint said it. The Director had us by the throat we were going to tell you that afternoon, and it was only until Loki could prove to the Director his trustworthiness – we fought for –"

"Oh so you were gossiping about me with Fury like pre-pubescent high school girls, so much more heartening." Tony drawled.

Thor looked heartbroken as Tony ripped himself out of Loki's grip and stalked off. Thor made to follow but Loki placed a hand on his chest. "Allow him his dignity Brother. It is hard on him especially that he did not expect your presence. Go back to Midgard; tell your fellows that he is safe and healing. I will try to make him amenable to a visit though I promise nothing." Resigned Thor nodded and the two parted ways.

Loki and Frigga were seated in the gardens the following day. "Mother, I am concerned for Tony, as much as he is happy and healing I feel as though he still desperately misses the Avengers. They were a part of his life for a long period of time and I believe whatever he projects, he still cares for them."

"It is up to him as to who he wants to see. All we can do is point him in the right direction."

"Yes, I know but how should I talk him around. Thor was miserable that Tony would not talk to him and Tony's inability to put the issue aside with Thor shows just how much he wants his old friends back, I feel as though I am not enough."

"My darling, your man loves you dearly, and it is obvious to all us here including the Warriors Three." Loki snorted in amusement. "There is no reason to doubt his affections. Talk to him about it. That is all the advice I can give."

Later that evening when Loki and Tony were curled together in bed, Loki broached the subject.

"Tony," Tony, hummed to show he was listening, "have you thought about possibly talking to Thor or any of the others? I know you do not want to live with them or lean on them again but I conversation? I know you miss their company."

"They didn't trust you and by proxy me." He replied in a small voice, curling further into Loki.

"Fury was holding their opinion hostage; it was after all only two years previous I had almost flattened New York, it was logical for them to be cautious around me."

Tony didn't reply immediately and Loki allowed him to digest what had been said, carding his fingers soothingly through his hair.

When he did reply is was in a tone that portrayed the revelation of a dark secret. "I want to see Bruce."

"We can do that." Was the reply, and that was all for that night.

Bruce was headed back to his shack on the outskirts of the village in the backwaters of Guatemala. He had been helping the local Sharman with medicinal herb collection in the jungle for the day. He was looking once more for a method get rid of the Other Guy and the Sharman was teaching him the properties of different jungle plants in exchange for some Western drugs that were needed in one of the villages he served.

He opened the door and froze when he heard a familiar voice, "Big Guy! Good scotch you've got here, so glad my tastes have started to rub off on you, though we really need to work on this persistent need to live in squalor."

Bruce stared at the man seated at his rickety dining table swilling some of the scotch Thor and he had been drinking the previous week.

"What not even a – 'how you been, good lookin'? Come on man, I haven't seen you in almost a year."

"Tony!" he exclaimed when his body finally caught up with his brain. He rushed forward and embraced his fellow scientist. "I'm so sorry, for what happened, I tried to stop it but Fury wasn't moving and I tried to tell them, they needed to tell you earlier."

"Hey! Hey, really let's not fall apart here." He joked, but he was touched Bruce was so pleased to see him. "I'm only here for a quick visit, thought I'd come on over for a drink, catch up all that jazz. No need for weeping and emotions, etc. They only get in the way."

Bruce backed off and took the only other chair in his sparse shack, while Tony poured him a dram. "Are you here for long, Tony?"

"Loki is expecting me back in a couple of hours."

"So you and Loki survived that whole thing…" Bruce trailed off.

"Yeah," Tony said with a small smile. "He's my rock, he fights for me however much I try to push him away – he won't let me."

"I'm glad Tony." Lifting his glass he took a small sip, allowing it to burn a path down his throat. "You need someone like that. Have you seen any of the others?"

"I ran into Thor briefly in Asgard." Tony's voice was controlled.

"I thought you might be there. What is it like?"

From there the two descended into scientific analysis of the differences Tony had observed and documented, re-bonding over their common curiosity. Hours later Tony returned to Asgard, leaving Bruce with instructions on how to bring Steve, Natasha, Thor and Clint to visit him.

When his old team mate came to Asgard, they met and talked about what happened and they left back to Earth with an understanding. Tony was not returning with them, he had found his place but the six of them would be keeping in touch. And the others understood his reasons and could see his happiness and they were just glad that they were able to still be a part of Tony's life.

-THE END-

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