Still Holding On

Chapter 29

Tony heard Loki get up a few minutes ago, and then he heard the bathroom door open and close, and then he heard the shower start, and not once did he open his eyes.

It's nice to know that Loki feels comfortable enough here to go about his business without asking Tony first. He doesn't even need Tony to be aware that he's doing it. And it's especially nice to know that Loki doesn't feel like he needs to hang around and do nothing until Tony wakes up, because he likes to wake up free of pressure.

And though Tony is technically awake, he doesn't even begin to get up. He'll wait for Loki to finish his shower before he starts his day. It's probably a better idea than getting up now and the god coming out to find that he's alone. He'll give the guy a few more days to get used to the place before he starts ditching him like that.

He's already drifted halfway back to sleep when he hears JARVIS's voice.

"Sir, Agent Romanoff just entered the building."

Tony groans quietly. Oh, that's just great. Leave it to Natasha Romanoff to just let herself into somebody's locked home without telling them.

He reluctantly sits up. "Tell her to wait in the lobby," he says. "I'll be down in a minute." He rubs his eyes, stands up, and cracks his back. That alone wakes him up a little bit more. He glances in the bedroom mirror, and he runs his fingers through his hair, fixing his bedhead as well as he can without his hair gel.

Alright, this is going to be fun.

"If Loki's looking for me," Tony says as he heads out of the room, "tell him I'm in the lobby, but I'll be right back – and do not tell him Romanoff's here."

"Of course, sir," JARVIS says.

Tony heads downstairs – or, more accurately, down the elevator; that would be a lot of stairs – and, as promised, he finds Natasha relaxing on a bench by the front door. She may not have the common courtesy to tell him she was coming, but at least she follows directions.

"Hey." Natasha gives him a half-wave with one hand, the other holding a styrofoam cup of what he assumes is probably coffee.

"You know," Tony says, making his way to the bench to sit down next to her, "most people call ahead."

"I'm not most people," Natasha says, an air of lighthearted indifference in her tone.

"Unfortunately not," Tony agrees. "So, what are you doing here? You missed me that much?"

She snorts. "Hardly," she says. "Fury sent me in."

"Well, you can tell Fury that I'm flattered," Tony says sarcastically, "but that was a one-time deal. I'm really not a team player."

"No?" Natasha cocks an eyebrow skeptically. "That's not what it looked like last night."

"Hmm." Tony presses his lips into a firm line. "You know, I don't remember you walking in on last night's orgy, but–"

"Who's your flight buddy, Stark?"

Tony smirks. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I sure would," she says. "Now, are you gonna tell me, or is Fury going to have to send me some friends to help move this along?"

Tony lets out a low whistle. "Two weeks ago, we were saving the world together, and now look at us." He shakes his head to himself. "I guess nice things really don't last."

"Stark." She shoots him a look.

Tony rolls his eyes. "It was JARVIS," he says. "I'm testing this new automatic suit – like a drone, but not." (It would, in fact, be a drone in every sense of the word. Fortunately, it doesn't exist, so he can call it whatever he wants.)