Author's note: I have been bitten by the enigmatic bug that is LokiXTony. I don't know how it happend, but it did and now it refuses to leave. Anyway, this story contains slash, male/male relationships. If you are uncomfortable with that information please locate your back arrow button next to your web browser or even the red x in the right-hand cornor of your screen. Now, I already have a fic I'm deseperatly trying not to negelct, so I'm going to need some serious feedback to continue this.

All characters are owned by Marvel (Disney) I don't profit from this story.

A storm was bearing down mercilessly upon a bustling city. Residents of all kinds were holding onto their umbrellas for dear life as the cold, harsh winds swept through them. Others were desperately ducking for a place to shield them from the freezing onslaught of rain.

The sky was black with dark clouds, only illuminated with the brief streak of lightening and the people were deafened by the sound of rain hitting asphalt and the ominous rolling of thunder.

Being blinded and deafened by the storm, hurrying to their homes, no one noticed a man seeming to fall from the sky, the ground of an alleyway breaking his descent.

The man wearily rose from his plummet; new cracks adorning the pavement were the only evidence of his arrival.

Unfazed, he stepped out of the narrow passage and under a street light, those who moved passed him gave the man little attention, a strangely dressed man standing in the rain wasn't their problem.

Green eyes roamed over new surroundings. Tall buildings speckled with inner lights, technology every way one turned, and the people scurrying around for cover against the elements; Loki didn't need Heimdall to know that he was now in Midgar.

Spotting a bench a few feet away, the supposed 'God of Mischief' slowly made his way to it. Not caring that he was already drenched from the relentless rain, Loki sat, allowing his elbows to rest on his knees as he buried his face in his hands.

His father, his mother, his brother, his home, even himself . . . all lies that meant nothing now.

The memories of what had just transpired rushed back the moment he closed his eyes.

Odin was keeping Loki and Thor from falling to an uncertain fate. The old man was clearly exhausted, just awakening from OdinSleep, and didn't seem to have the strength to pull both his sons up from their dangling positions off the damaged bridge.

Loki was at his end, he had no fight left. In a final, desperate attempt to gain his father's approval, his love, Loki pleaded Odin to join with him, so that they could destroy Jotunheim together.

"No Loki."

That was all it had taken and he was broken. Loki could never be the son of Odin, merely the abandoned monster he had took pity on. He would never be pardoned from his crimes against Asgard and once it was known that he was some Jotun runt, Loki, at best, would be banished to the frozen, unforgiving realm of his true people.

Taking in their positions, Loki realized that he had a moment of power, of choice that no one could take from him. Odin was holding onto Thor, his hand tightly gripping his son's ankle, and Loki was holding onto his staff which Thor refused to let go of.

Loki was numbly aware that Thor was looking at him, silently begging him to hold on, but all Loki could see was his failure in Odin's eye, and so he took his moment of complete control:

Loki let go and fell through the swirling powers of the Bifrost.

It had been surprising, not only surviving the destructive magics of the fragmented machine, a wormhole, but also to have arrived whole and relatively unharmed on Midgar.

The realm of Midgar, known as Earth to its inhabitants, held no special place for Loki. It was a world full of beings, same as any other, who held material possessions as importance, craved significance and feared loneliness, and any deed done was to ultimately benefit themselves.

Loki felt numb. He had nothing now, even his anger deserted him, leaving little more than gaping hole. No place, no purpose. Reduced to thrown away after-thought, left to fade to dust on a world over-looked by all . . .

Loki raised his head from his hands, suddenly looking at the banal world as an offering of opportunity.

'Midgar is cut off from the other eight realms by its own ignorance,' realized the trickster, 'the other worlds rarely make their presence known to this still growing planet. I cannot return to Asgard, nor any other realm, for their ties to Asgard are great, but . . .I . . . I could live here.'

It was an unusual gift of good fortune for one who had had so little of it, but Loki saw no reason not to accept what he had been offered.

Loki could easily blend himself to Earth's ways, his magic creating a new life would be child's play. And no one would come looking for him; it would be foolish to assume that anyone could have survived what only luck had allowed Loki to.

Yes, he would no longer be bound by the ugly lie that was Loki Odinson of the horrific truth that became Loki Laufeyson. No, now he could build his own destiny, not held back by his blood or upbringing. Loki would live amongst the humans, simple people with simple lives, and none the wiser to Loki's addition.

Loki stood up; stretching his arms to the skies, bursting with pathetic laughter covered by the noise of the ongoing storm and tears blending in with the heavy rain, here . . . he would be accepted.

"Tony."

"Hrmmmm . . ."

"Tony."

"Hrmmph."

A sigh. "Tony!"

"Mrrrmm."

Apparently, three times was the limit for Tony Stark's personal assistant Pepper Potts to pleasantly try to wake up her boss before she promptly doused the semi-sleeping man in ice water.

"Ahhhhhh!" And suddenly Tony Stark found himself on the floor, a haphazard pile of soaked blankets for company.

Tired brown eyes looked up at his dear assistant who had both hands on her hips, bucket being held in the right one. Between the cold and wet clothes sticking to his torso and the 'no nonsense' posture of Pepper, Tony knew going back to sleep was well out of his reach.

"Good, you're awake,' said Pepper, far too cheerfully in Tony's opinion.

"Is that anyway to treat your superior?" questioned the newly-awakened man, voice laced with sleep and mild irritation.

"In your case Tony, yes and then some, now get dressed, your company isn't going to run itself."

With a smile dripping of amusement and self-satisfaction, the red-head walked out of Tony's room, high heels click-clacking all the way.

Tony merely grumbled and got off the floor, taking a minute to stretch and wait for all the 'pops' of strained joints to finish. Moving to his dresser at a snail's pace, the inventor rummaged around for something dry to wear, quickly changed, and made off for his tech lab.

Not two minutes after greeting Jarvis with a "good morning" and receiving a complementary "and good morning to you, sir" had the interrupter of slumber herself walked in and dropped a manila folder into his lap.

"Awwww, but Pepper, I didn't get you anything."

The woman in question refrained from rolling her eyes. "I think I'll live."

The engineer prodigy withheld further sarcastic remarks to disinterestedly open the folder and skim over the contents.

"Proposal in doing business with the Rampet Corporation?"

"Yup." said Pepper while she straightened up her boss' desk, organizing the blueprints for an improved propulsion generator and throwing away week old pizza. "You're meeting with the head of the company, Lawrence Rampet, today at three o'clock sharp, so I suggest you get ready."

Tony groaned. "Come on Pepper, I'm beat, can't we reschedule?"

"If you'd sleep more you wouldn't be so tired and then I wouldn't have to drag you out of bed, and no, you can't reschedule, so stop whining."

Tony decided to switch to puppy-eyes; a last resort for the truly desperate.

"I was out all night with Clint and Steve, you know, being a superhero. Avengers stuff. Shouldn't that be rewarded with at least one day off?"

"Oh, of course! How silly of me, I forgot playing X-Box until two in the morning with your friends was essential to the preservation of the human race."

Tony knew he shouldn't have invited Steve; the guy couldn't lie to save his life.

A freshly pressed suit, tie, and car ride later, Tony was pulling up to Stark Industries. Pepper opted to wait in the lobby for their guest while Tony made for his office, his assistant's eyes trailing him the entire way to ensure he didn't stop en route.

Tony plopped into his high-back leather office chair and nearly face-planted his desk, remarking the wonderful comfort the wooden surface provided and weighing the pros and cons of Pepper coming in and finding him out cold.

Deciding it wasn't worth cold water to the face, or worse, considering Pepper's imagination and what she knew she could get away with, every morning; Tony ruefully sat up straight and waited for this Lawrence Rampet.

'This is boring.' Tony thought, mind willing time to move faster so he could get over this meeting and do something productive.

It was hard, juggling the life of Iron Man, responsible business man Tony Stark (which Pepper was skeptical existed), and regular Tony, who liked to make an entrance to a party, hang with friends, indulge in good alcohol, and, oh yeah, sleep.

'If I don't figure out my life better, the fun Tony is going to get sucked out of me, I'm going to become one-half superhero and one-half grouchy old man, engrossed with industry and stock and no personal life . . . dear God I'm going to become my father.'

With that little nugget of foreseeable doom stuck in his brain, Tony barely registered the knock at his door before Pepper's head emerged from the other side.

"Mr. Stark?"

'Oh, professional speak, means Rampet is here.'

Tony gave a 'go ahead' signal and Pepper opened the door completely to allow the man behind her to step inside the office.

Lean build, brown, maybe black hair, pale skin, shades covering his eyes, and a nice suit, Tony stood and made his way to the newcomer, hand out.

"Lawrence Rampet? I'm Tony Stark."

Rampet removed the sunglasses he'd been wearing to reveal emerald green eyes. The man with smooth angular features, dark hair, and startling eyes took Tony's hand in welcome and smiled.

"Mr. Stark, It's a pleasure."