Author's note:

This is a fic I've been meaning to write for a very long time and I have finally got around to it. Enjoy!

P.S. Please review!

His cell smelled like piss and blood. He was chained into a kneeling position, unable to move because of the smallness of his cell. There was no window or metal bars, so he couldn't breath any fresh air. His wounds were slowly becoming infected so there was no possibility of fighting his way out, especially since he was being tortured every day to make sure of that.

It had been two weeks and a half.

The guard was sweating and panting as Loki pressed his knife on his throat. He and Valkyrie had outnumbered him and taken away his weapons and were now threatening to take his life if he didn't tell them were the dungeons where. As Loki sliced lightly his throat to create a small line of blood, the guard started crying.

"F-fine, I-I'll tell you were they a-are! J-just let me live, I have a family." He sobbed.

The knife kept pressing on his throat and Loki whispered in the guard's ear:

''So have I. You have stolen it from me and now I want it back."

The guard whimpered as he was handcuffed with his hands behind his back, knife still on his throat.

"Lead the way." He said and nudged him forwards.

It was so dark in the cell that he couldn't see his knees in front of him. He had lost all hope of escaping at the end of the third week and was now let to wait patiently for his death which was waiting for him too. He let the silence engulf him. It hadn't taken him long to realize that it was too loud, deafening. He closed his eyes and waited. He was going to leave for good anyway in the end. For now, he would just wait.

Valkyrie's heart was beating loudly but she kept her face neutral. She had to remain calm and posed. She and Loki had kidnapped a guard who was now leading them to the dungeons. It had been two and a half weeks after the enemy ship invaded theirs and guards had imprisoned all the asgardians and kidnapped their king. She and Loki were the only ones who had managed to hide and only today they had managed to trick this guard to let them go, bribing him with lies of treasures that were on the ship that only they could lead him to them. They had set free Heimdal, Korg and Banner who had helped them to get on the enemy ship. They were going to free the rest of the people and help them get rid of the guards on their spaceship as soon as she and Loki had finished their business.

The guard lead them to the dungeons were they uncuffed him and threw him on a cell with the two guards who were blocking the door. They had quickly kicked them to unconsciousness and dragged them to a cell with the other whimpering guard. Loki looked at Valkyrie and then at the closed doors in front of them. She returned the look, allowing him to see her frustration and worries which she had concealed excellently all the way to the dungeons.

"He won't be dead. He is too strong to be killed." He said more to himself than to her.

"THOR?" she yelled loudly enough to be heard but not to be discovered by guards.

"Brother it is us we are here to save you!" Loki said loudly, his voice laced with worry. He put on a determined face. "We shall find him. Knock the doors asking to be given a name. You must recognize his voice. We mustn't release anyone else accidentally."

She nodded and started knocking.

He had stopped believing that he could escape. When he heard their voices, his heart fluttered with hope and tried to yell at them in response. His voice was unused for so long though, that only a croak came out of his parched lips.

Someone knocked his door. "Tell me your name!" came a shout. Valkyrie. He tried to say something, anything but nothing loud came out. He heard her moving to the next door and panicked. He mustered his strength, and with a groan of pain he kicked his door once. BANG. Twice. BANG. His body hurt with effort, but he carried on. . BANG.

"Yes? Thor is it you?"

"Valkyrie…It's me." He said as loudly as he could. He thought she hadn't heard him and tried again but…

"LOKI! LOKI, I THINK I FOUND HIM!" He heard her shout. Rushed footsteps came from outside.

"Brother? Speak to me!"

"Help…" came his reply more of a cough that real words.

"BROTHER! DON'T WORRY WE WILL GET YOU OUT!" he heard him say.

He closed his eye feeling relief washing over him. He was getting out.

Loki took his knife out once more and fiddled with the lock. It gave in and he opened the door.

Valkyrie let out a cry of relief which turned into one of horror.

Thor's wrists were chained into a bar of metal which was attached from its middle to the wall of the incredibly small cell. His ankles were in chains too but longer ones, attached on the wall too.

The most horrifying thing though, was his brother's body. He was shirtless and from what he could see, his torso and hands were filled with cuts and bruises as big as his hands. His trousers were ripped and he could see bruises and cuts on his legs too.

He cried in horror too and knelt next to Valkyrie who was franticly trying too unchaining him. He took his brothers face in his hands and tried to shake him back to consciousness. The bastards who had tortured him had removed his eye patch leaving his eye socket in a bloody mess in addition to his bruises along the cheek to his forehead and jaw.

Valkyrie managed to free his wrists and he fell forwards to Loki's chest. He caught him and gently lifted him from his shoulders and shook him.

Thor's eye fluttered half open and Loki sighed in relief.

"You came." His brother croaked.

Loki brought him close to him in a hug, careful not to hurt his injuries more.

"Of course, I came. Only I can torture you."

Valkyrie got up. She had cut the cuffs and was standing awkwardly letting the brothers have their moment. They had to leave though, so Loki pulled his brother out of the embrace, but Thor caught his wrist with surprising strength in his condition.

"Thank you." He said looking at him and Valkyrie. A tear escaped his eye and Loki froze. Thor rarely cried if ever.

Valkyrie knelt back down and put her arm around his shoulders too. She and Loki hugged Thor who fell lifelessly in his arms.

"What have they done to you?" Loki whispered to his brother's ear.

Their moment was ruined however by the sound of approaching footsteps.

Guards.

Loki and Valkyrie lifted Thor up and they half supported, half dragged him out of the dungeons.

They were speeding through the halls unnoticed, cold sweat drenching them as they heard the alarm. They managed to reach the door connecting the enemy ship to theirs when they heard someone shout:

"THEY ARE HERE!"

Guards surrounded them blocking their way to the ship.

"We mustn't let them come near him, he whispered to Valkyrie.

"You don't have to hold me, I'm fine. We have to fight them." Thor stood upright with some difficulty and looked at them gravelly.

Valkyrie nodded solemnly and took out her sword. Loki took out his knives. Together they charged forward to the guards as Thor tried to open the door which had automatically closed when someone sounded the alarm. The were surrounded from all sides and Loki and Valkyrie wouldn't be able to hold them for too long.

He tried to break the control panel, but it wouldn't break no matter how hard he kicked. They were going to be captured.

No.

He wasn't going back. He was ready to kick the control panel once more, when he heard his brother yell in pain.

He turned around and saw Loki being kicked on the floor by the guards who were getting more and more by the second.

Thor saw red. This was his brother, and NOBODY hurt his brother.

He roared in anger and hit the guards with lightning blasts, evaporating them. He felt his strength leaving him and his knees buckled. He fell to the floor and drifted out of consciousness.

Loki and Valkyrie watched with astonishment as all the guards in front of them were blown to dust from lightning blasts big enough to power a dozen of spaceships. Loki got up from the floor clutching his arm which was now bleeding and shouted a cry of triumph. He turned to his brother to help him open the door but inhaled sharply out of fear and run with Valkyrie to where he lay on the floor.

Valkyrie was already there, slapping his face gently to wake him up.

"Open the door." She commanded. "More guards will come."

He nodded and started fiddling with the control panel as more guards made their appearance. He seethed in frustration as he tried to make the door open. He looked at Valkyrie who was covering him and Thor. Loki took out his knives once more. They were too many. He could fight but they wouldn't win.

Just when he was about to lose hope the door fell on the floor revealing Heimdal, Korg and Banner.

Korg kicked a guard who was about to stab Loki without him noticing.

"Hey man. You weren't coming so we freed the people and came to search for you. They are fighting on the other ship too." With these last words he surged into battle next to Heimdal. Banner looked once at Loki and transformed.

The Hulk grabbed five guards at the time in each hand and threw them to the wall with a howl of rage.

"ONLY HULK SMASHES THOR!" He bellowed. Loki had never been so glad to see him. He rushed to Thor who was waking up and trying to stand up.

"The people." He groaned as he pushed himself upwards. "You have to help the people."

"HULK!" Loki yelled over the commotion. "TAKE THOR WITH YOU TO THE OTHER SHIP AND SMASH THE GUARDS WHO ARE HURTING THE PEOPLE!"

The Hulk roared in understanding and scooped Thor in his massive hand and placed him on his shoulder.

"Thor hold tight because Hulk smash everything!" he bellowed and with a final howl of rage he charged to the other ship.

Heimdal, Korg and Valkyrie were backing away towards him.

"When I say go, you will close the door from the other ship." Yelled Heimdal to Loki who nodded.

"GO!"

They rushed to the door and Loki punched the button on their ship and the doors closed. The guards who had managed to get inside with them were quickly blasted by Korg's gun.

They panted and wiped their sweaty faces, bracing themselves and getting ready to fight but once they turned they saw a crowd cheering in joy. Hulk and some warriors had managed to kill the rest of the guards and Thor was now leaning on the wall looking at his people who were safe at last.

He turned when he sensed them coming and Heimdal and Korg looked at him with worry. The questions were fired one after another and Loki saw Thor's tired and exasperated expression but before he could do anything Valkyrie strode towards his brother putting an arm around him.

"Give the king some space. He has had two and a half rough weeks and I think he would like to go to his room now." Thor gave her a grateful look. She raised her eyebrows to Loki who quickly joined and put his arm around Thor's waist supporting him.

"Let's go." He said and together they made their way to his brother's room.

Loki was cleaning another one of Thor's wounds in his brother's room, when Thor spoke.

"Thank you, for getting me out of there brother. I owe you my life." He said solemnly.

Loki paused and looked at Thor's tired, bruised face and sighed.

"We may have our differences and I may have tried to kill you countless times now, (Thor gave him a sad smile at that) but you are my brother if not in blood then in spirit, and I would never let them harm you." He glanced at Thor's injured torso and winced. "I was afraid I was too late. And I indeed have been for they hurt you and there was nothing I could do about it." He felt his eyes watering and he blinked furiously. He wouldn't cry in front of his brother.

Thor rose from his bed from where he was sitting and hugged his younger brother.

"You were there for me when I had lost all hope. For me, that is more than enough."