A Heart As Cold As Iron

Chapter 6 - Tony

The light was blinding and the scream seemed to go on forever. I could barely see Loki through the light, but his outline was tense, back arched off the bed, joints locked in agony. After what seemed like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes, the light faded. It looked like Loki was absorbing the tendrils of light, he was glowing with it. All of the previously open wounds, all the bruises and areas where the bones were broken were glowing, it looked as if his blood had turned to lava. Weird, glowing green lava, but lava none the less.

Throughout the whole ordeal Thor had been by his brother's side. When the collar was initially removed both he and Bruce had been thrown across the room at the tidal wave of power and light. Now Thor was running one of his hands through his hair while the other had a death grip on the side of the bed – I could have sworn I heard the metal give. As soon as the light had burst from Loki Thor had cycled through a range of emotions, elation, horror and now worry. He was staring at his brother now, the intensity of his gaze made me slightly worried the bedsheets would burst into flames. It seemed like an age since the light had faded before Thor turned towards me and the others. We had been waiting at the door, Bruce had reasoned that at this moment it was Thor, not him, who could help Loki.

Thor looked exhausted, but mostly relieved which pushed me away from 'full on panic' towards a tentative 'is it better' mind-set. The others appeared to have the same thoughts. Steve stepped forwards and took Thor by the arm.

"Do you need anything?" Steve asked gently, his voice barely rising above a whisper. The room was eerily quiet, the screaming had stopped and the unnatural green light was gone, leaving the room looking pale. The silence seemed to ring like the moment when a concert has just ended and the audience hold a moment of silence as the last cord fades before bursting into applause.

Thor shook his head wearily, sending one last glance in the direction of his brother's prone form. "There is nothing anyone can do for Loki now, this fight is his own".

Everyone looked at the still body, looking so small and fragile in the huge hospital bed. 'The fight is his own' what on earth did Thor mean by that? Loki looked dead, not like he was fighting anything. The strange green glow had not left his body and the metal of the strange mask that was clamped over his eyes glinted ominously in the harsh light of the medical bay. I was startled out of my trance as a hand gently came down on my shoulder.

"Come on Tony, Thor will explain everything", Natasha was trying to lead me away, back upstairs. I knew that she was only doing this for my own good, she was being kind, but I just couldn't leave. I turned around to face her, leaving her hand on my shoulder.

"I can't leave him. Not like this. Not now... He... I... If this was me... I... I don't want him to be... alone..." My voice was husky like I had just been crying, maybe I had, and to be honest I wasn't really aware about what had happened in the last couple of hours. I just knew I couldn't leave him here, fighting for something, probably his life, alone. After what Thor had told me of Loki it had been apparent that nobody had ever really cared for Loki before, no one had been there for him. He had been alone for 1047 years and now he could die. No matter what people say about me, I could not let anyone fight for their life alone. Natasha seemed to understand the message my broken words tried to convey. She wrapped her arms around me in a rare moment of compassion, as I felt her body against mine, the comfort, I felt like breaking down completely. She pulled back slowly and looked me in the eye.

"You stay here with Loki then, I will come back and tell you what Thor want to say. If you need anything, Jarvis will tell us." She pulled herself onto her tiptoes and whispered in my ear "He won't be alone and neither will you". Tears threatened in that moment and Natasha gave me one last glance before she left the room and I was alone with a god.