You stepped just far enough out of his arms to allow you to stand up on your toes to kiss him. You kissed him deeply and kissed him well. And an insanely long time. You had missed Loki with a desperation that couldn't be put into words and you couldn't quite believe that he was finally home.

You ran your fingers through his hair and felt him wince when your hand brushed his cheek. You broke the kiss and took a proper step back. The illusion on his face had vanished when you touched it and you saw he had a huge bruise and black eye. "Loki," you said softly as you reached up a glowing hand to heal it. "What happened?" you asked gently.

"Your uncle is displeased that I left you," Loki replied dryly. He sounded exasperated with the expected result of getting punched in the face.

"Do you blame him?" you replied. You weren't surprised Tony had punched him in the face, though of course you wished he hadn't.

Loki shook his head. "I do not. So I let him get his punch in. It made him feel better and I could take the hit," he replied with a shrug. You saw his eyes assessing you while you healed him and knew he wouldn't like what he saw. You removed your hand from his face when the black eye was healed, but you still held onto his hand, like he would vanish again if you weren't holding onto him somehow, someway.

"You were gone for a whole year," you told him with tears in your eyes. It was hard to believe he was back. He'd been gone so long.

"I know, darling, and I am truly sorry for it, but there was no choice. My people needed me," he told you softly. He pulled you back into his arms, holding you tightly to his cool body. "I thought you would be safe here. You're nothing more than skin and bones. What happened while I was gone?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Why did you leave?" you countered defensively. You weren't going to spill your secrets until you got some answers from him.

"I will tell you everything, once I am sure you are ok," Loki promised. He paused before he added. "I always think you are the most ravishing creature I have ever laid eyes on, but right now you look dead on your feet," he told you. His voice had moved beyond concerned to flat-out worried.

"Ahem," you heard a voice from path you had taken to reach the middle of the park. You whirled, drawing a dagger in one hand and summoning a fireball in the other in one fluid practiced movement.

"Just me, Kat," Tony announced.

You vanished both your dagger and the fireball. "Did you have to punch him in the face, Uncle Tony?" you demanded, upset that Loki had been hurt. He had reasons for having to go to Asgard and leave you alone. Whatever those were.

"Yes." Tony replied curtly. You rolled your eyes. Stupid overprotective uncle. Or surrogate father, based on how he treated you. "By the way, you're taking the next two days off. You're not on call either. Fury and I finally got all of your work logs. Good job hiding them from us by the way, imp. If I ever catch them overworking you like that again, I will kill every single healer in the compound," Tony snarled.

You blushed and refused to look at him. You'd been working an insane amount of hours and no one really seemed to notice. Or care because they were too busy to care beyond the immediate need. "That won't get me less overworked," you reminded Tony sourly.

"It will when I ground you and make you rest. And eat." he replied. You glared up at him. You weren't a little kid. "She's been working a month straight, with what, five whole hours of sleep the entire month? And when was the last time you ate a real meal?" Tony demanded.

"The night Helene made meatloaf," you answered softly, refusing to look at either of them.

Tony growled. "That was two weeks ago!" he roared. "I am going to kill Fury and those healers for not keeping an eye on you. It's their job to make sure you're not worked to death. They all know how healers are. You won't stop until someone stops you or all the healings are done." he growled, frustrated at you, himself, Fury, and the healers.

"Tony, do we have to talk about this now?" you asked him softly.

He gave you a look. "Now was the best time. Even with how pissed I am at your boyfriend for abandoning you for a year. If he knows what you've been through these months, he'll take my side, and he is way more equipped to make sure you rest and eat than I am. Plus, you might actually listen to him," Tony told you too logically. He had you trapped in a corner and he knew it.

"That is accurate," Loki replied. You groaned. Stupid boys teaming up on you. You raised your hands in surrender.

"Fine, I give. But Uncle Tony, you know how crazy it was last month. You had almost as much work as you did," you reminded him.

"Yes, but I wasn't trying to do a crazily accelerated PhD program at the same time," he reminded you, still too logically. Damn he had you trapped well. "You're not winning this round, imp," you sighed. He was right, but you couldn't say no when people needed your help. He came over and gave you a hug. "I worry about you," he told you. You heard the click of metal and shoved him away when you felt the hard metal ring around your wrist.

"Uncle Tony!" you shrieked. You reached for the bangle that bound your powers and tried to take it off, but it was locked. "Uncle Tony! Take this off, now!" you yelled again, though you sounded more like a scared little girl than the most powerful super in the city.

"Take care of her," Tony told Loki. "You have a week,"

"You said two days!" you protested indignantly. You had work to do and surely there would be people who needed healed in a week's time.

"It was two days, or my judgment based on how you looked after all those hours you logged. Fury is pissed, by the way, with all of those hours. My judgment is at least a week and I need to make sure you can't get called in to help," Tony replied. He didn't seem sorry at all. "I have to get back and report to Fury. Don't you do anything stupid." He told Loki, poking him in the chest threateningly. Tony had almost liked Loki before he had disappeared last year. It looked like he was back to hating Loki. You couldn't honestly say you were surprised. Tony left, letting Loki deal with your bad mood.

Cheater.

Though he probably felt Loki deserved it.

"Come, darling. Let me take you out for dinner and I can tell you about the trouble on Asgard," Loki offered you his hand. You sighed, but you knew that was the best offer you were going to get. You placed your hand in his and the familiar green glow of his magic flew over you. You were back in the green dress he had made for you last year, with your hair done and coiled perfectly down your back. He frowned when he had to use more magic to take in the dress and make it fit properly again. You blushed and looked away from him sheepishly, wisely choosing not to comment.

He teleported you to the fanciest restaurant in town. The same one you had your anniversary dinner at the previous year. It was his favorite restaurant to take you to, so you weren't surprised at all that he had chosen it. Between your fame and his silver tongue you got in and seated immediately. You even got the chef's table again, which while being in the kitchen, actually gave you a good place to talk without being overheard.

"So, what happened in Asgard?" you asked him once your orders were placed. You weren't letting him get away with not telling you what happened while he was gone.

He'd been gone a year.

You deserved that much.