"It's not of you," he says, though maybe someday, if the original Tony dies, it might be. "He is headstrong. I can no sooner stop him from doing whatever he wishes than I can stop Loki." Loki, who was determined to throw his life away even now after seeing what their mother had shown him.

"I just want him to stay alive as long as he can. I don't want him to throw his life away. We can do it without him dying if he knows his limits." He scratches the pup right where neck meets back. "I just want him to believe it, too."

Because if he believed, maybe he wouldn't do something foolish that will get him killed.