Loki's Pain

Chapter Twenty-Three- Thor Returns

Tony sat alone in his darkened lab, a mostly-empty bottle of expensive bourbon in one hand and a crystal cut glass in the other. He had been drinking for some time now, and could barely hold his head up let alone sit up straight. Several stubbed out cigars littered an ashtray nearby, their smoke still polluting the air and causing him to cough. His clothes were disheveled, his lab coat stained.

So it wasn't really any wonder when Natasha made a sound of disgust at finding him in such a state. "Come on Tony! You can't keep doing this, god damn it!" She chided harshly, dragging him upright and moving to get him a cup of coffee to sober him up, "Thor is supposed to be arriving any minute. He wants to see how his brother is doing! How do you think he's going to react when he sees what happened with Ash!! We need you to get your shit together!!"

"What...makes you think... I'm able to handle it any better... than the rest of you!?" Tony slurred out haltingly, nearly faceplanting into the floor when he tried to stand up. Only Natasha's quick reflexes managed save him by flinging him back into his chair before he hit the ground. He sat there for a few minutes, silently stewing over his own helplessness as he sipped on the coffee Natasha had handed him. But eventually he snapped, "I can't even save my own family....from an enemy halfway across the ...fucking galaxy, but you want me to play Polly Politics with a god because he's worried about a brother he abandoned here half a year ago!?!?"

Tony had completely lost it, his voice growing louder and louder as his rage and self-loathing burned away some of his drunken state...only to see Thor standing behind Natasha as he finished up his rant. Seeing the truly wounded expression on Thor's face broke him. Tony went from rage to grief in an instant and tears began to trickle down his face. "I... I'm sorry, Thor. I....I...." He sputtered, trying not to let loose his sobs.

When Thor saw the state his friend was in, he couldn't help but to forgive him. So even as he wondered what had happened he walked past Natasha to wrap his strong arms around Tony. Pulling him into a hug he nodded towards Natasha to ask her to leave them be. So she silently withdrew from the room, pulling the door closed behind her, and walked down to the containment cells to check on Ash and Loki.

It had been almost two months since the attack on Peter, and when Ash woke up, it still wasn't Ash. Thanos had complete control over Ash's body, and used that fact to taunt and torment them all. He had even gotten ahold of a knife at one point, sneaking it out of a guards boot, and sliced up Ash's arms and legs before they could stop him.

"Why don't you try to escape?" Natasha heard Loki ask as she got near.

"Why would I? I'm not really here, so what does it matter where this body is? In fact, it is better he's stuck in here. It is far better torture for you, isn't it? You'll see every little thing I do..." She heard Thanos taunt in a voice so similar to Ash's but still, somehow, not. The laugh was even worse, so full of a sadistic glee that would have never come out of Ash's lips otherwise. "Imagine my surprise when I realized he was your lover.... I could not have invented a better torture for you, Loki, than for you to watch as I tear this body to pieces in front of you....." Thanos's laughter echoed down the hall as Loki stumbled away from the glass, not able to watch as Ash's body began to play with itself. The look on Loki's face was one of utter horror. Natasha could tell he was blaming himself again, so she had to stop him.

"Don't let him get to you Loki. It isn't your fault. He was already targeting Ash before you were even in the picture. Remember that." Natasha reminded him, forcing him to look up at her to ensure he acknowledged her words, "Whatever Thanos did to cause this... It was already part of his plan. He is simply using him to torment us now because he can. So don't let him break you like this. We will get Ash back eventually. Believe this." Loki stared at the floor for a moment before nodding his head at her and then continuing past her to head upstairs. He desperately needed a break. Behind them both, they could hear Thanos begin to moan.