Can He Freeze My Heart? (A FrostIron fanfic)

Chapter IX

Can He Freeze My Heart? Chapter IX

Tony's PoV

Okay, exercise wasn't a good idea. I popped a dozen stitches trying to do chin-ups and nearly passed out. Luckily (and unsurprisingly) Captain was in there beating the sawdust out of a punching bag. He helped me to the temporary hospital wing. An agent fixed me back up and scolded me for trying to work out. She forced me to a week's bed rest and prescribed painkillers.

I was escorted back to my room and Loki was laying on his sleeping bag, fast asleep. He was back to normal, but I noticed there was a small glass bottle under his arm. I pried it loose without waking him and read the label. It was my best scotch.

"Dude, not cool. It's not good for you." I put the formerly full bottle in the trash and then stiffened. "I guess I'm turning into Miss Potts, aren't I?" I nibbled the inside of my bottom lip.

I flopped onto my bed and ended up ruffling the sheets into piles. I got an idea, wormed under the blankets and made a big, uh, what's the word... oh! cocoon of warmth. After a few minutes of silence, I fell fast asleep.

~In the nightmare~

I was arguing with Pepper over something I didn't remember at first. We were yelling at the top of our lungs, and her face was almost as red as her hair. She suddenly lowered her tone to the scary voice of doom. But I was too angry to care.

"Tony, I cannot take this. You have to choose; it's either me or Iron Man. This is hell on me, and I'm so close to breaking. If you'd died," she paused, "I couldn't bear it. Please."

I remembered feeling lost, but before I could reply, suddenly I was falling through space. Stars and galaxies were spiraling in my view. My lungs felt like they crinkled up and died. It was cold, then I felt gravity kick in.

I was hurtling down, burning hot, unable to slow my descent. I couldn't move an inch. I fell, and fell, and fell. I hit the ground with a sickening crack, and it turned black in a second.

~Exit Nightmare~

"TONY!" I was being roughly shaken. I sprang out of bed and made it ten steps to the door before sinking to the floor, breathing raggedly.

I bit my lip and swiped my palm down my face, the cold sweat making me shiver. I let myself fall backwards and laid on my back.

"Tony? You were whimpering in your sleep. Did you have a nightmare?" Loki stood over my inert form with a concerned look on his face.

"Y-yeah, just....gimme a sec." I took a big deep breath. My heart threatened to explode out of my chest. Then Loki did something very unexpected; he pulled me up and hugged me.

He smelled faintly of pine needles, wood smoke and something sweet but not too sweet. He was gentle but supportive. All in all, 10/10 hug.

As soon as it started, it ended. Loki let go and helped me sit next to him. His face was flushed, so I blamed the alcohol. Boy, was I wrong.

"S-sorry, I know nightmares are horrid. I thought that might help... Mother hugged me whenever I had one, thought that'd be good. So, uh, yeah," he confessed with an awkward cough. I didn't know what to do, so I didn't think, I just did it.

I hugged him back. He froze at first before he returned the gesture, his face bright red. I simply clutched him to myself, trying not to cry. I felt horribly emotional but refused to let it show.

"Thanks," I croaked, "I needed that." Loki nodded in reply. I let him go and endeavored to stand up. It took a few tries (ouch!) but I got up with a little help.

"Sir, you have an incoming call." Jarvis spoke suddenly, making Loki jump and hug my leg. I chuckled and listened.

It was Pepper. "Tony, I'm resigning. AIM has agreed to give me a job, so I thought I should let you know." I debated how to reply before answering.

"Alright then. See ya, Ms. Potts." The call ended and I looked down. Loki let go of my legs.

"What magic allows you to speak without your body being there???" Loki asked timidly. I took his hand and helped him to his feet.

"Just electricity- never mind, it's a special Midgardian spell in different forms. I'll show you how to work it. Oh, and the male voice was my operating system, Jarvis. Say hello, bud."

Jarvis said a formal hello to Loki, who replied with equal charm. Then Jarvis made a completely random physics pun, and Loki laughed, which started up a very detailed conversation between us three about physics, of all things. Somehow he understood most of what we talked about because of MAGIC, of all things. I couldn't help but be utterly amazed. I could tell Jarvis was too, it showed in his voice.

"... so that spell fits in with that equation!" Loki smirked triumphantly. I blinked a few times in surprise.

"Wow, I had no idea..." I knew one thing though; I wanted to open Loki up and see what made him tick.

~~~~~

((A/N: Hay geis! XD Tony's starting to feel the love! Okay, so I haven't used the other characters too much, but I will soon! Comment, vote and fan please!))