"Is my brother okay?" Thor asked him once he had made it back out into the main room that included the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

"Yeah, he is just irritated at you and your 'big brother' act. He just needs his time, that's all. He said he would try to work through it, though."

Thor's tension relaxed slightly. "I think I need you to stay around and be our messenger. You seem to have an affinity for Loki that none of us have," Thor said, hitting Tony on the back in a friendly way. Tony rubbed his shoulder, cringing.

"Yeah, I just think we are a little more similar than I thought. We can relate, that's all," Tony said.

"Sir, Nick Fury is here for the briefing," JARVIS said calmly.

"Send him in," Tony responded, glad that Fury was asking to come in rather than barging in.

A few minutes later the man with the eye patch and the long black coat was standing in the middle of the modern apartment floor, looking very out of place. Not so out of place as Thor, but definitely out of place.

"We can all meet at the table," Tony suggested, pointing to the long glass table that was off of one side of the kitchen. It was nice having such an open floor plan so that you could see where everyone was. That was kind of important when you had such dangerous people all in one place.

"Good idea," Fury said, and he started emptying the contents of his briefcase on the table, which included a computer-like device for presentations, notepads, and other unidentifiable devices. "We need everyone here, including Loki," Fury said, and the Avengers started to take seats at the table. Tony decided he better go get aforementioned Loki.

Tony knocked on Loki's door for a second time in so many minutes. Loki answered the door, looking exasperated. "What is it this time?"

"Nick Fury is here, and he would like you to be at our meeting," Tony said.

"I am NOT an Avenger," Loki said angrily. He was about to close the door when Tony held out his arm to stop it.

"Nope, you are coming to this meeting or Fury will blow a vein or something," Tony said. "Come on, it can't hurt you to just sit there with us."

Loki just glared at him some more.

"Come on, do it for me, if not for anybody else. You do owe me." Tony didn't like pulling that card, but found it necessary.

Loki sagged and walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him. He followed Tony into the kitchen area. When they walked in everyone turned and looked at them, and then quickly turned back to avoid staring. Tony could tell that they found it odd that Loki was there and they weren't fighting him; he could tell by their faces. Tony had found that odd the first few hours, but had gotten used to it.

Tony found an empty seat and Loki sat down next to him, on the opposite end of the table from Thor. Thor frowned at them, but didn't say anything.

"Alright everyone," Fury began. "It has come to my attention through the word of Thor, king of Asgard, that they are under attack by the Chitauri, who are hell-bent on getting revenge for a believed wrongdoing." Fury pressed a button on the computer and projected screen filled the air above it. Fury tapped on the projecting and it pulled up a file on the Chitauri, showing video feed of them fighting the Avengers, and then a small clip of them coming out of the portal.

"People, if Asgard falls, then the Earth is in grave danger. We will have no one to protect us from other alien races who want to take us over as they please," Fury went on. "We need to assist Asgard in getting rid of these monstrosities, or we may all be doomed."

"Can humans survive on Asgard?" Steve asked. "We can only fight if we are, you know, alive."

Thor decided to answer this. "Yes, but not for very long. A few hours at most are what humans can last there. Asgard has way too much magic and power inside of it for a normal human to bear for very long. In your and Bruce Banner's case, maybe longer since you are made of different stuff."

"That is not actually the plan," Fury said. "We will not be going to Asgard. We are going to trick the Chitauri into coming here, where we will be waiting to stop them."

"So, we are going to sacrifice Earth to save Asgard?" Tony asked, really wondering what had happened to Fury's brain.

"No, half of the Chitauri will be transported here, and half will stay on Asgard. It's all in the files that I am going to send to all of you to read over, including you, Loki," Fury said, looking pointedly at the God of Mischief, who glared back defiantly.

"Why should I help you?" he asked icily. "We are enemies, remember?"

Fury shook his head. "Considering the fact that we have given you almost complete freedom instead of locking you up, you should really stop thinking us your enemies. We are what you decide us to be," he responded.

Clint, Natasha, and Steve seemed unhappy that Loki was being asked to work with them. Bruce didn't really seem to have any feelings on the matter, and Tony found himself excited that Loki might be on the same side as them. What was this? Tony really needed to have a sit-down assessment of these wayward feelings.

A pained expression had crossed Loki's face, and his hands were fisted tightly on the table. He stood sharply and left the room. He didn't go to his bedroom, though. He went straight out to the small balcony that overlooked the city, closing the glass door heavily behind him. The balcony on this level sat beneath the large overhang on the penthouse level, so it was virtually invisible to anybody looking at the tower. It still had the most beautiful view of the city, though.

"Maybe he just needed some fresh air?" Tony said quietly, looking out at Loki who was leaning on the railing and staring out at the city.

Thor shook his head. "My brother is lost. He does not know what path he is going to choose, and it bothers him greatly. He must be shown the way."

Tony found himself mad for some reason. "I think the problem is that everyone thinks they know what is going on inside his mind. It's the worst thing that somebody can do to think that they know what is troubling somebody who is trying to be left alone. I think we should let him think it through and maybe back off a little bit." Tony had said it a little harsher than he had meant to, and the group was looking at him oddly.

"Seems like you care more about the evil villain than you should," Fury said dangerously, as if it being true would cause him pain, most likely by the hands of Fury.

Tony shook his head. "I don't know, but it sure seems like he needs somebody to care for him in the right way," he said softly. "Sometimes just caring is not enough."

Banner had raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you been a psychologist?"

Tony caught himself. He had been teetering on the edge of those feelings that he had desperately been holding down for years; emotions that Tony Stark didn't like to deal with. He closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry. I just got a little... can you excuse me?" Tony said, and he stood from the table and went to his own bedroom without looking at anybody. He sat on the edge of his bed, head in his hands, thoughts careening wildly around his head. Why was he standing up for Loki so strongly? Why did he want to make sure that Loki was okay? It wasn't like Loki had ever stood up for him or done anything to help him. But Loki had thanked him how many times? And just because somebody was drunk did not mean that kissing somebody was completely innocent. Tony had only been consoling Loki when he had told him that he had kissed a good amount of men he hated. He had meant to confront Loki about that, but the resolve in him had melted upon seeing Loki so embarrassed about the kiss. Tony had only ever acted upon people that he actually had some affections for, not people that he didn't like. When people were drunk their feelings were only multiplied, not completely switched. So, that meant that Loki had to have some affection for him. Oh, god, what was he going to do?

Well, nothing for it now. Now was not a good time, so Tony pushed all feelings aside for now, waiting for later to deal with them. That was what Tony Stark did best, shelving important feelings.

Wow, now that he thought about it, he had probably looked pretty screwed up out there. They were probably all talking about him. Hey, I think Stark has officially gone crazy, knew it would happen at some point. No, he would not have that. Just because he was going through some emotional turmoil did not mean that he was crazy. Just because Loki had gone through some really bad emotional turmoil and almost destroyed Earth did not mean that he was crazy.

He sighed, not knowing what he should do now. Go back out and face the gang that now thought him to be a wreck? Sit here and make them think that he was a wreck? Nothing would do him any good. That was when he heard a knock on the door.

Tony stood up and opened it, not caring to ask who it was. Loki.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" Tony asked, aware of how uncomfortable Loki looked.

"Well, I came back into the meeting to tell them that I would fight alongside them if they treated me as an equal and not some pet that needs training. And then Fury said that you had stood up for me in a rather major way, so I thought I would come and make sure that you are okay as opposed to you always that of me."

Tony was more than a little shocked. This was not something that he would expect of Loki, the cold, angry villain, but here he was, wanting to make sure that Tony was okay.

"I'm good, but thank you for asking. You know, under the circumstances I have an interesting time trying to remember that you were one horrible enemy. You're just being too nice to me. I think it is your brother that makes you behave the way you do, because when he is not around you are like another person."

Loki looked like somebody had spilled water over his head, which Tony remembered he had done the day before yesterday. "I just get so...angry when Thor is around. It has something to do with my childhood I believe," he responded softly, thoughtfully. "Well, um, I shall be going now, er..."

Tony found himself staring at Loki's mouth as the god talked, wondering what it had felt like to kiss him, because he had been way too drunk to remember that. Whoa. Where had that thought come from?

Loki was frowning at him, noticing Tony's lack of responding. "Yeah, uh, thanks, I'm coming back out too," Tony mumbled, and then followed the god back into the dining area. The group had disbanded and was now sitting on the couches or in the kitchen chatting idly. Fury was nowhere to be seen, having already left already, Tony supposed. Fury was not one for idle conversations. Nobody paid any attention to the two now entering the room.

"What is this horrid contraption?" Thor's voice boomed through the kitchen.

"That would be a microwave," Banner answered, raising an eyebrow. "And that is definitely not how you use it."

Tony chuckled and put buying a new microwave on his internal list of things to do as he sat down on the couch, allowing space for Loki to sit on the other end. Tony decided he really liked this messed up reality that he was currently living in, with his mutant friends around him laughing and joking together, even if one of his new friends happened to be a messed up Norse god. Tony actually admitted to himself that that one happened to be his favorite.