Chapter 1: Prologue.

1

"Barton! Three on your back!" Steve warned the hawk, pivoting on his boots to knock one of Ultron's men into a building with his shield, shattering the double glazed window and falling into the room of cowering families and workers.

"Three against one?" Clint had his bow pointed at the rubble beneath him before raising it before the robots could blink and shot through each as one arrow broke off into three; all head shots. The arrowhead sizzled the circuits in the robot's heads, letting them fall like rag dolls. "Hardly seems fair." He argued, flashing his sly smile at the metal remains.

"All's fair in love and war." Stark's voice came loud and clear in the intercom. "Isn't that right, babe?"

"I disagree..." Loki presented. "You think having a conversation with hundreds of Ultron's men will settle what killing them outright would not?"

"Don't you tell me about war, darling." Stark laughed with his face to the sky. "We beat you, didn't we?"

"With a hulk." You could hear the distaste hidden in Loki's tone; and if Banner were Banner at the time to hear it, he'd hide a smile. But he was busy ripping out floors of buildings at a time to notice.

"And my everlasting love!"

"Quite." His Asgardian-far-too-British-to-be-extra-terrestrial accent really came through in his banter with his husband; especially on the battlefield.

Tony and Loki 'tied the knot' half a year ago in a widely public reception. Tony loves the attention, and takes any chance he can to show his villain turned ally turned lover off to the press. Loki was not vexed by the broadness of the event, for he knew he had Anthony all to himself during their honeymoon in Stark's Miami mansion, which lasted two weeks longer than when they said they'd be back. Bruce was worried about his science partner's absence and asked Jarvis for an update. What he got was a far too detailed analysis on their current circumstance which left Bruce staring at his heart monitor for the next twenty minutes trying to calm down. He didn't ask after that, and didn't ask Tony how the honeymoon was when he got back. He knew far too well that he enjoyed himself.

The borderline idea of a battle lasted a record time of thirty three minutes. Having Sam, Rhodey, Wanda, Bucky and Vision on their side was a rich bonus for the Avengers, but having another God really boosted the odds in their favour. Not that it had been easy. There wasn't exactly a therapy room for turning ex-criminals into allies in ten easy steps. But Tony had since considered writing a book about it.

"Sokovia really sweeps you off your feet, doesn't it?" Tony tried to joke, but seeing the floating city drop civilians by the dozens, he instantly regretted it. He watched as one of the buildings hit another in its fall, and he flew towards the rooftop, trying to evacuate those at the highest points and make his way down.

"Might need a little help here, guys. Whenever you're ready." Tony whisked around the building, grabbing as many hands as he could carry at once, building a chain, and lowering them all to the ground before repeating the process. "Take your time."

"Stark, there's hundreds of these robots flying around. Kind of busy." Loki huffed through his earpiece, grunting as he incinerated one or two.

"And the people are our priority." He's a little disappointed in his husband. He knows he's a fighter and all, and likes using his magic to kill his enemies, but Tony needed him to show more care for the public in times like this. Tony had seen what happens one time too many when you forget that battles aren't fought in an open field. They're fought in the middle of cities, in and / or around homes. And around people. Innocent people.

Below him, a group of Ultron's men crashed through the lower floors of the buildings to let them fall into each other, but Tony shot to the rooftops and held them apart to stop them from collapsing in on one other. There are cabinets and desks and papers falling from the broken windows at the angle that the building was falling at, but Tony can't… won't let the buildings fall. Not with all the people inside.

(Innocent people.)

"I'm losing control up here!" Tony panicked, but he knew that there was going to be some form of collision or other before anyone could get here, even Quicksilver, with all his… quickness.

No one was quick enough.

One of Ultron's forms shot up and collided with Stark's suit, pushing him out of his form and sideways, letting the building's rooftop lean towards the other and crush him between. The robot smashed at Tony's hands and feet, destroying his only source of flight before ripping out the rubble of the building holding him up like it were sand. The buildings collapsed in on each other and Tony could only look up and watch as they began to crumble to the floor with him.

The last thing Tony heard was screaming of the citizens inside, and Loki yelling his name before he hit the ground.

2

Tony felt what was like his first hangover when he stirred. He felt like his eyes had been padlocked shut and had a chain on his forehead keeping him down. After however many years drinking, he had built up an almost inhuman resistance to such effects.

"St… aw… ken… sir." An Irish female voice echoed through the room. It didn't sound too human, nor like anyone he could recognise. The last thing Tony wanted was to be in an unknown place whilst in a vulnerable and defenceless state. Adrenaline shifted through the crevasses of his body and he rose slowly up onto his elbows. He had bandages wrapped around various areas of his limbs, and around his head. A cold hand wrapped around his bicep in an attempt to push him back down. When he turned his dizzy head towards it, he saw the vague form of a black haired man with a dark green t-shirt, speaking lowly.

"It's alright, Anthony, lay back down." Loki murmured. "You're okay, my love." Loki hadn't had much sleep over the past few days from watching over his partner, not wanting to miss his awakening. He was often reassured by Bruce that Tony's injury wasn't life threatening, and that Loki's magic in his suit definitely played a part in saving him from the fall. But still, the God was haunted by his own mind at the knowledge that he simply 'should have been there'. None the less, he was kept positive by the thought of finally having Tony back in their bed and letting Loki heal him with cuisine and massages. The wave of relief though, was gradually depleting at the look on Tony's face. Loki's brows furrowed, and his hand was slowly retracting as Tony's eyes filled with something he hadn't seen directed at him since his first visit to Earth.

Tony gathered the energy to summon his gauntlet with a raise of his hand, powering up and aimed it at Loki's head.

"What the fuck is he doing here, Jarvis?" He yelled, which came out as a hoarse whine. When he didn't get a response, he turned his head towards the camera without taking his eyes off the God. "Jarvis!"

"Tony, it's me." Loki said cautiously, his hands up in a kind of surrender. But surrender to what? Would Tony hurt him? Why would he?

"I know it's you. I know perfectly well that it's you." He jumped out of bed far too quick but still called out for the rest of his suit, which came out from a hidden panel in the medical bay's wall. Tony had not installed a suit there yet, and was a little startled when it appeared. Despite that slight delusion on its own, the suit that came out wasn't his suit at all. Well, it was, but it was not what he had designed. Now he was confused. The suit wrapped around him, gripping around his bruises and tripping him up a little, but he caught his footing on the edge of the bed. "What're… what're you…"

"Tony…" Loki reached out for the mumbling man, afraid he would fall again.

(Falling. Don't let him fall. Don't let me fall.)

There was a slight light in the suit's gauntlet, getting ready to fire, but it soon faded, and Tony collapsed, strong arms catching him before his knees could hit the ground.

3

Loki picked at the palm of his hand as he stood by the couch in the living room. Bruce, Bucky, and Natasha sat restlessly and considered the situation, possibilities, their outcome, and what could be done. They watched the security footage of Tony's awakening a few times in order to put together the story and figure out what went wrong.

"It was like he hated me." Loki said, voice clearly showing that he was worried. "We were fine before the accident, I can't imagine what I had done to cause such a reaction."

"He may have just been confused, Loki." Natasha reassured. "He woke up after a week of being unconscious, he may have hallucinated for all we know."

"He also called out for Jarvis." Loki stated. "He does not seem to know about what happened to the AI. He was… so angry."

"Could it be dementia?" Natasha proposed. "Drinks a lot. Works a lot. Stress and trauma may have triggered an early retirement in him. And the injury must have been some kind of prompt to start it off?"

"There seems to be a large chunk of his recollection gone, rather than partial knowledge. So it is more likely amnesia." Bruce stated.

"Amnesia?" Loki asked.

"It is damage to the brain caused by trauma that results in memory loss. Seems to fit the picture here."

"But Tony remembered me, however negatively. He still knew me."

"Loss of memory from one period to another. It appears as though he woke up from during the Chitauri battle, up until your return to Earth. So that gives us a span of about… two years?"

"So… our marriage."

"Never happened according to him." Loki's face dropped, struggling to imagine how such a thing could happen; especially to Tony.

"We'll sort this out, Loki." Natasha reassured. "For now, you should rest. It has been a tiring past few weeks." On her way out with Steve, she put a comforting hand on Loki's shoulder.

(Tony's hand.)

"Think this may be similar to what happened to you?" Loki asked Bucky, hopeful and dreading at once. "Forgetting who you were, and who the people were around you? Something… I can remind him of? Like Steve did?"

"It is possible. Tony wasn't brainwashed hundreds of times in order to forget, it was a fall and knock on the head." Bucky felt a weird sense of guilt, like this was something he did to Tony. Perhaps it was seeing him in the same unknowing state that he once was in, and felt like he should be doing something to help. The help that he wished that he had had all those years before Steve came back. But Tony's not alone like Bucky was. He should get better, rather than worse, because he had people around him; and that was what counts. "But amnesia can be fixed." At this, Loki shot his head up, eyes almost puppy like.

"How?" He says, determined to do whatever he needed to get his husband back.

"With time, Loki." Bucky said slowly, a hand on the God's knee to calm him down before he got too excited. "Let Tony heal, and adjust to his surroundings, and maybe, in a little while, he'll eventually remember little snippets here and there. By the end of it all, he'll be back to who we all know and love. No harm done."

Loki wasn't prepared to sit and wait while Tony was confused and in pain. He wanted to help. He wanted to hold him, and tell him everything would be okay. But what was even worse than being a complete stranger to Tony, was that he thought of him as his enemy. So instead of starting fresh, unknown, he's hated. Loki worked hard at his relationship with Anthony Stark. He rebuilt himself around the man, and found a home in him. The only difference was that he had no idea of where he would end up on the first day he returned to Midgard, forced to live amongst those he wronged. He was expected to live civilly, and instead found friendship in the Avengers, and a lover in Stark. He did so with grace, and taking each day as it came. But now he's stuck in the future of his own heart, years ahead of Tony's time.

Love between the two was a new journey and experience for the both of them, and they rode that train together. But Loki didn't know if Tony was capable of riding that train alone this time, and to catch up to where Loki was. To be in love with someone who doesn't love you back wasn't an easy street to walk, but Loki couldn't imagine how it must be for Tony to have to live with not just being behind in love, but in friendship with the Avengers, old and new, and the passage of time. His tech had grown without him. The world had gone by without him.

Loki wasn't going to give up. That idea didn't even pass by his mind. He just wanted Tony back. And he would do what he must, for however long it will take, to go from enemies to friends to lovers all over again.