The sun will shine on us again

Chapter 4

Tony Stark, was, to most people, self- centered, rude and most definitely a playboy.

All of his life, he had been hiding behind masks and walls. Masks that no one could get through, that held strong no matter what.

What happened during the Battle of New York was still hunting him in his dreams. He suffered from sudden, intense, debilitating episodes of anxiety that caused him significant distress. Tony has been suffering from these anxiety attacks since the attack.

Curse him for being a genius and wanting to know answers to everything, but he still wanted to know why Loki's - as he was described by Thor for being professional at stealth and military ruses - plan wasn't that great. His plan didn't make the least bit of sense. There were some major defects in it. And what about his condition when he first showed up? Tony hacked all of S.H.I.E.L.D.to try to find answers, but he didn't find any.

He parked his car and got out to have some fresh air. He walked down the streets of New York, disguised, of course, as he didn't want anyone to recognize him, even if there weren't many people in the street.

He made his way down the sidewalk, silently praying that he wouldn't be recognized. He wasn’t in the mood for autographs.

He passed by an alley, and was going to continue walking but something caught his eyes. Or rather, someone.

Watching the guy from afar, he looked like someone beat him up. Can't leave someone like that, Tony thought to himself, and he walked over.

And people had the audacity to say that Tony Stark was a cold-hearted bastard.

The guy was curled up and was shivering.

"Hey there, are you okay?" Of course he isn’t okay. Tony scolded himself for asking such a silly question.

The man whimpered and tried to get away from him.

"Hey, I'm trying here to help." Tony spoke in a more gentle way.

The man tensed when Tony put his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

He didn't understand why, but the man was looking at him, and he seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. He was talking in a language that Tony didn't understand.

"Það er bara martröð. "

"Það er bara martröð. "

"Fyrirgefðu meistari, ég hefði ekki átt að mistakast"

Tony suddenly realized why the man had caught his eye. This was none other than Loki, the same Loki that they defeated, Thor's brother. His blood ran cold.

Tony looked at him and wished that he was wearing his suit right now.

"Please, please, tell me that you're not Loki, that I'm confused. The same Loki that threw me from a fucking window! "

But the man who looked exactly like Loki didn't answer. If he was Loki, Tony was screwed.

"No Thor, no Thor. " Loki, the same person who wanted the people to kneel in front of him, who wanted to show them all what ‘true power’ looked like, was crying and trying to get away from Tony, pressing himself further against the wall.

Why did he keep repeating ‘no Thor’? Had Thor done this to him?

Stark didn't move, as Loki was in no condition to attack.

But what was he doing here? How long had he been here? Why wasn’t he locked up in Asgard? And most importantly, what the hell had happened to him?

Suddenly, as he looked at Loki, he realized had seen this look before. The same look that he saw in the mirror every single day, hidden behind his masks and walls. Haunted and lost.

Was he really considering helping him?

"This is not real, this is not real," Loki kept repeating over and over again.

"What is not real? "

"H-he will c-come to m-me. " A broken sob came out of his mouth.

"Loki, i need you to calm down. Breath in and out. " He tried to make Loki follow his breathing, the same way he tried to calm himself when he panicked. When he put his hand on his shoulder, Loki flinched violently.

"Y-you are n-not r-real ,Fyrirgefðu. "

And then suddenly Loki's was blank, tears still streaming down his face.

'I am worthless'

'I am pathetic'

Tony didn't know where this came from "Loki? "

Loki continued, as if he hadn’t heard him. 'I am weak '

'mér mistókst'

Darkness was taking over his vision. All he wanted Thanos to stop being Stark and go straight to beating him. He closed his eyes waiting for the torture to begin.
.................

'Mother , tell me a story. ' His mother was tucking him into his bed.

'But what about your father? You should be asleep.' His mother smiled at him.

He pouted at her 'Father won't know unless you tell him, ' he said with a mischievous smile.

'Oh, then he doesn't have to know.' She laughed at her son.

'There was a little boy named Loki who, one day, became one of the greatest people in all of the nine realms.'

Loki giggled. He would make his mother proud one day.

'Hush , let me continue. '

..............
"Reindeer games." Tony panicked when Loki's eyes closed. He wasn't responding. Should he call S.H.I.E.L.D. to let them know that the God of Mischief, who had once tried to rule Earth, was here?

But looking at Loki's conditions, he couldn’t do it. Loki had clearly been tortured, and S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn’t care about that, they’d just run experiments with no regard for his mental state. So no calling S.H.I.E.L.D.

He would take Loki to the tower and see what had happened to him. First, though, he needed to hurry up to see the extent of his injuries.

         ......................................
' Fyrirgefðu meistari, ég hefði ekki átt að mistakast ' means 'I'm sorry Master, I shouldn't have failed'