Overwhelmed by the last couple of minutes, Loki walked through into the lounge area where Natasha, Pepper and Rhodey were. Loki hoped they hadn't been able to hear anything of his conversation with Thor.

"I'm sorry," Natasha said, immediately upon seeing him.

He knew immediately what she was talking about. She hadn't intended to reveal that Loki was scared of Thor at all.

"Don't be sorry," he replied. "I am grateful. Few have stood up for me in my lifetime. I will remember this, Natasha Romanoffdottir."

She smiled.

"I remember all you've done for me too," she said gently, touching his arm briefly.

Loki shrugged.

"I have not done much," he pointed out.

"You've done much more than you'll ever know," she whispered, smiling.

He wasn't sure what Natasha was talking about but decided to ignore it.

"Thor has now left," he said instead. "Hopefully peace will descend on the tower."

"I think you're being uncharacteristically optimistic," Natasha replied with a smile. "But I won't burst your bubble. See you around, Loki."

It was the first time she had called him Loki and he couldn't work out whether it felt natural or not. Luckily he had plenty of time to work out what name he wanted to be called by.

A short way away, Pepper and Rhodey sat on the sofa. Even if they had been talking before, they weren't talking now.

"Where's Tony?" Loki asked, coming over to them.

"He's either drowning his sorrows in alcohol or finding out all of your weaknesses from articles on mythology, intent on exploiting them if you get all godly and destructive," Rhodey replied.

"Thanks, Rhodey," Loki replied sarcastically.

"He's getting us pizza," Pepper kindly informed him.

"On his own?" Loki questioned, surprised.

Tony couldn't even tie his own shoelaces, let alone walk into a restaurant and order pizza.

"Happy went with him," the assistant answered with a smile.

There was a small pause.

"Thank you, Loki," Pepper said suddenly.

Loki was astonished.

"Whatever for?"

Rhodey rolled his eyes.

"You did save the lives of thousands of people," he pointed out. "Or have you already forgotten why you passed out? It's not like you fainted. You saved thousands of lives while mid-air and then passed out."

"Don't remind me," Loki said, frowning. "Thor insists nobody else would have caught me."

"I would have," Rhodey replied instantly. "Or Tony. He hasn't got an Iron Legion for nothing. Personally, I would have ditched the plane if it meant catching you."

"Thank you," Loki said awkwardly with a small laugh, "But I think it would be best if you stuck to saving civilians. The fall wouldn't have killed me anyway."

"How are you so sure?" Rhodey asked.

Loki shrugged.

"It's happened to me before."

Having said that and noting the worried looks he was now getting, Loki quickly left before he could be quizzed on his peculiar statement.

*

Half an hour later, Tony found him sitting beside the pool.

"Pizza?" He offered, extending a large box.

Loki shook his head, despite the mouth-watering smell. He wasn't sure he would be able to keep anything down, not after seeing Thor for the first time in years. He was still uncertain about whether Thor wanted to hug him or kill him. Probably the latter, especially after their most recent conversation.

"I've heard that gods can't survive on nothing," Tony commented. "Thor alone could eat an entire pig on his own."

Loki shivered.

"Don't mention Thor without advance warning. But, yes, he is exceptionally greedy. As are most Asgardians."

"The opposite of you, then."

Loki sighed, fearing that he wouldn't get away without mentioning Thor, after all. Or the Jotnar, for that matter.

"I have been forever in his shadow but not once did I crave the power he had. The respect, yes. The friends, possibly. But I did not envy him his position as heir to the Asgardian throne. Asgardians rule the nine realms but I am heir to Jotunheim, a far smaller and less powerful realm."

"Explain it to me" said Tony and there was no judgement, only curiosity.

Loki took a deep breath.

"There are nine realms: Asgard, Jotunheim, Midgard - that's earth - Alfheim, Muspelheim, Nidavellir, Nilfheim, Svartalfheim and Vanaheim. These are all under Asgardian jurisdiction but the Frost giants, who inhabit Jotunheim, rebelled against Odin's rule. There was a war, a bloody, brutal war, and I was found abandoned in a temple at the end of the war by Odin. I had been abandoned as a runt."

He paused, ever scornful of his true heritage.

"My birth parents, king and queen of Jotunheim, had other children; they had no need of me, their first-born, as long as nobody ever knew of what had happened. Odin hoped to unite the realms of Asgard and Jotunheim through me but his plan failed when I discovered my true parentage by accident. I was so angry at being lied to that I lost control. I schemed to destroy Jotunheim and I was perilously close to my goal. I thank the Norns every day that Thor stopped me."

Tony gave him a look but Loki couldn't tell if it was one borne of fear or sympathy.

"I do not know what came over me. I am grateful to Thor for saving the lives of countless Jotuns, even if he had slaughtered many previously."

"Can you be blamed for that?" Asked Tony. "It sounds like a brief lapse in judgement to me."

Loki laughed harshly, amazed at Tony's answer. He had no idea what it felt like to be responsible for the deaths of so many guilty and innocent people. Howard Stark would have known the sensation, the guilt, but Tony, his genius son, had been wise to avoid that particular route.

"Yes, I can. It wasn't exactly a lapse in judgement; I was going to kill every last one of them: men, women and children."

Tony shivered and Loki felt bad for exposing him to his more unstable side.

"You see why I wanted to leave?" Questioned Loki, standing up. "I attempted to massacre a majorly innocent race and tried to kill Thor on more than one occasion."

Tony stood up too.

"There must be extenuating circumstances," he insisted.

"Well," replied Loki softly, "If there are, you won't hear about them from me."

And, with that, he turned on his heel and teleported, leaving Tony standing by the pool alone. As if in jest, the pool sparkled with an unnatural blue.

*****

A.N. It's all coming out now! As you can probably tell, this is fairly close to the end of the book.

Thank you for reading!