Behind The Mischief

chapter 3

tony couldn't think straight, he and Pepper had broken up a month ago due to some reasons she wouldn't tell him, she was still the CEO. the only thing she told him before walking into the elevator was 'im sorry tony, but this isn't gonna work, we're not gonna work. I'm sorry' with that she left, without giving him any more details, she left him there...broken again. no. no he wasn't broken, he was shattered

he would sit in his lab drunk, he wouldn't eat nor sleep. he would sit there numb until Friday had to call rhodey just to get him to sleep and eat, or at least shower

but now with Loki in his med bay a few floors up, he couldn't stop thinking about the god, he felt something he hasn't felt in that one month, something that he can't quite put his finger on. he's been switching up wires in the wrong places, placing notes in the wrong files until Friday had to remind him of everything he'd done wrong

he thought about drinking till he's drunk again but he just couldn't bring himself to do it, not with a mentally unstable god up in the tower

Flashback
Tony was sitting at the kitchen counter drinking his coffee, all the while fiddling with his stark pad when pepper walked in, he looked up and the minute he saw her he smiled brightly. but that smile dropped when he saw how nervous she was, CEO pepper potts does not get nervous so in turn that got him worried

"pep? What's wrong?" he walked up to her and went to grasp her hand, but she took a step back surprising him greatly "pep?" he asked back quietly after a moment, like a scared child waiting for his punishment. she took a deep breath, and tony waited for the worst. but what he didn't know was that it was going to break him beyond repair

"t-tony..uhm...I wanna break up" tony didn't know what to do or say, he was paralyzed by the words she muttered "w-what? but p-pep why? w-what did I do--" "I'm sorry Tony, but this isn't gonna work, we're not gonna work. I'm sorry" she whispered the last park and left. she left him standing there to process what just happened

so many questions ran through his mind at that moment, did he do something wrong? was this his fault? but the second he did, the second he knew that she wasn't ever coming back....he broke down. he fell to the floor and sobbed his heart out, he thought of her as his world. he loved her so so so much that it hurts. he was so close to going back to his old habits. the only person who was able to get him out after rhodey was pepper and now she's gone. just as he thought about doing it he felt someone pulling him to their chest

at first he thought it was pepper. he thought she changed her mind and came back to him but when he heard his best friend's voice comforting him, he broke again and sobbed into his chest while clutching his clothes tightly in his fists

"s-she left Rhodes, she left me" he choked out "shhh shh, it's ok... it's going to be ok tones... I got you" and he continues to whisper sweet nothings to him until he calmed down and slept there on his chest. he stayed with him throughout the day and more, he never left tony's side till he was stable enough to be on his own. and in that little family joined peter, the minute he knew what happened he swore to stay by tony's side till he's happy again and healed

~~~

"Fri? what time is it?" he asked while rubbing his eyes "it is currently 3:45 sir, I would suggest you get to bed"

"no Friday I'm fine" "might I remind you you've only been asleep for 3 hours in this whole week" she was right, he was racking his brain on the new updates he had to do for shield and his teammate's gear, so yeah he has barely slept and has been living of off coffee

"sir might I also remind you that if you're not in bed in the 10 minutes I'm gonna have to activate protocol TS" 'tony sleep' 

"no! no! Friday don't. I'm going! I'm going to bed. Friday. god that kid is full of surprises." he huffed and muttered the last past out and grumpily walked off to the elevator letting Friday turn everything off and headed in the direction to his room, but he kept having this weird feeling in his chest

He stopped in front of his room and stared at the one next to him. So lost in thought he hadn't even realized that he's walking in the direction of the med bay. 

he stopped at a good distance from it, he doesn't know the reason behind why. why does he feel this way whenever he thought of the god, he's been constantly thinking about Loki since he got here. the scars he saw were just too much for his sleep-deprived brain

and that's when it hit him. 

he's worried about him. 

he's worried about Loki

the person that was mind-controlled to throw him out of his building window, he shook his head, getting rid of the memory he slowly walked in when Friday opened the doors, he watched as Loki's chest rose and fell in a steady manner indicating he's asleep and alive. they covered him in a white hospital gown when they stripped him off his armor

he still remembered the panicked look on the god's face, the look he never thought he'd see when he saw the mischievousness in his eyes during the battle not a day ago. he still has his doubts. whether this is all one of his tricks to get close to him and the team just to break them later on, or if he really is in his vulnerable state. to be honest, he didn't like this, he was so used to seeing Loki run around causing disasters and chaos that this was all just so hard to comprehend....him looking so vulnerable as he is right now at this moment

he sat on the chair next to Loki's bed and just watched him as he took slow and steady breaths with a breathing mask on, multiple wires connected to him to know if his heart suddenly stopped from the amount of damage done to him. his arc reactor producing a steady hum along with the heart monitor. the blue glow of his arc brightened the room slightly

he took one of Loki's hands and held it in his, he knows he shouldn't get attached but who's to say he couldn't? besides, he knew it was already too late for that

he stared at Loki's face for a good minute, how peaceful he looked when he's not trying to kill anyone

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tony woke up to whispering, he decided to just lay there and snoop on what the whispering was about but he groaned at the familiar pounding at his head, he opened his eyes to a bright light shining in his eyes. he took an arm, draping it over his eyes to decrease the blinding pain behind them that was threatening to make him puke due to the dizziness

"good morning sleeping beauty! or should I say afternoon" he groaned a little louder at that, finally deciding to open his eyes he looked around to find himself on the couch with the rest of the team sat around him. 

bruce was reading some book, steve was engaged in a conversation with bucky while nat was cleaning her knife.

 sam, and clint playing Mario cart like 10-year-olds while arguing about who is winning, and rhodey's on his phone not giving a fuck about anything that is happening. and now all the attention was on him the minute rhodey spoke

he huffed and pushed himself into a sitting position on the couch, massaging his temple after feeling a migraine coming up "what happened--and did Loki wake up yet?" he groaned out "well you were drunk passed out on the kitchen floor and no. he hasn't"

tony just sighed and got up from the couch trying to get away from his teammate's pitiful gazes "tony--" 

"don't, Rodgers" he didn't want to have this conversation, not now

"tony I understand how you feel but drinking--" that was his first mistake 

"no you don't! you don't understand shit steve. so don't you dare 'tony' me" he growled and left towards his room

everyone was silent for a moment, not sure of how to process this

"he really needs to talk to someone about his 'feelings'" Sam said quietly,

"you think I haven't tried to talk to him? he keeps insisting he's fine, that the break up didn't just mess him up terribly," Rhodeyh said with a hint of worry

"he needs time. it's only been a month," bucky said, everyone silently nodded when the elevator opened 

"hey guys! why the long face?"