Disclaimer: Don't own anything!

AN: I want to thank everyone for staying with me during this story. I have enjoyed writing it so I hope you all enjoyed reading it. Thanks for all the reviews, all the alerts and the faves! The last chapter has arrived. It's short, but I hope it's a nice ending to the story. Enjoy!

~ Start Over Again ~

Chapter 12

The silence was broken by a soft, rhythmical breathing. Thor, his eyes still closed, could easily recognize it was Tony sitting next to him for there was also a slight buzzing and the clicking of fingers on a mobile phone. Or what was it called again? Thor could only remember it wore the symbol of a half eaten apple on it.

Gently, he opened his eyes and examined his surroundings. He lay in a comfortable bed, with silk sheets and soft light overhead. It was easy to conclude that he was not in a hospital. He tried to shift his head to look at Tony when he found that every muscle in his body ached.

"Welcome back, big guy," Tony smirked when he noticed Thor was awake. He slid the phone back into a pocket of his jeans and folded his hands before him. He looked very relaxed which told Thor that everyone was all right.

He instantly felt better. "What happened?" he asked, trying to remember anything after his confrontation with his brother. Yet all that came to him was the faint memory of a painful stab in his stomach. Carefully, he moved a hand to the still hurting spot and found that it was heavily bandaged. It could have been worse, though.

"Not much really," Tony informed the God of Thunder, "except for the part where Loki stabbed you and killed four other men."

Thor frowned.

"That's how many people died two days ago," Tony sighed, his brown gaze growing distant when he thought back to the dreadful events, "they got caught underneath some rubble, but they died instantly which bring some relief, I suppose."

It pained Thor to hear this news. He should have known Loki wasn't just playing around and people were bound to be killed. Four was not even a high number, but Thor knew it could have been avoided all along. If only he had helped his brother in stead of abandoning him. "So Loki left," he muttered more to himself than to Tony.

"Yeah," Tony confirmed, "but at least he was kind enough to kill the fire first. I don't know what you said to him, but you hit the right button. We even suspect that he is the one that helped us get rid of Doctor Doom."

"I can not follow." Thor felt confused, unable to comprehend what Doom suddenly had to do with everything.

"Doom is gone," Tony allowed himself to smile then, "left for Latveria yesterday and it doesn't look like he's returning any time soon. I say good riddance."

"Yeah," Thor sighed. He dreaded to think what Loki had done to his ally, but it couldn't have been anything pleasant. Then again, Thor should remember not to feel bad for the Doctor of Doom. He was evil after all and he was simply a bad influence on his brother. "Why am I in your home?" Thor asked then, trying to keep his thoughts away from horrible scenarios where Loki was going insane.

"Another thing that puzzled us," Tony explained, his smile never faltering, "besides losing a lot of blood, you're fine. Some doctor stitched your wound and that was that. Loki might have stabbed you, but I never thought he would make such a lousy shot. He missed all your organs."

With wide eyes, Thor gazed at Tony. "Loki would never miss," he breathed, "unless he wanted to."

"Really?"

This time, it was Thor who smiled. "He didn't want to kill me," he said while feeling a warm sensation flood his veins.

-o-o-

Somewhere, miles away from Stark's mansion, Loki stood on top of a building. He had a perfect view of the city beneath him and he grinned. People were returning about their daily business and Loki knew that he too would soon be back to his normal scheming and plotting.

Doom was gone for the time being, having been scared by Loki who only chuckled at the memory. It left the entire playground to the God of Mischief who already had a few tricks in mind. He would show everybody that he was back and he would proof to his brother that he was more powerful than ever.

Yes, Loki smiled to himself, all was back to normal.

-o-o-

The end.

-o-o-