AN: Soo... This is probably a bad idea. I have written a lot but the point is that this story isn't completed yet. We shall see if I can do that. Anyway, this story has a weird story. If one can say that. The point is, that the dream this story begins with is actually mine. Of course it wasn't exactly like that, but mainly yes. And I thought, why not? Also, I begun writing this before Age of Ultron came out, so please forgive me, some detalis that do not match with the cinematic universe. Maybe I could just say that this is an AU.

Thor was walking in a great room. The sun was shining somewhere and pale light shone through a big, wall-sized window. The floor was covered with dark grey stone tiles. The room was very high, but except the little light from outside, the shadows controlled the view in front of him. It was very quiet, as if the whole place had been abandoned.

He walked onwards and noticed a body at his feet. It was twisted into unnatural position, limbs pointing in weird directions. His eyes were closed. Thor stared at his brother's dead form quietly and it felt like something heavy was pressing him onto the floor. Then the whole room was covered in bodies, the same face again and again, so that there was very little floor to step on. The one at his feet was now wearing the same gag he had once had, when Thor had taken him home from New York. The pressure on him increased all the time. It was still completely silent.

Thor's conscious mind started to get the upper hand as he understood more and more about his surroundings. Then he realized that he was dreaming and opened his eyes. He sat up on his bed and looked around. The room was dark, no light was coming through the curtains and the eerie silence was gone. Some pipes or another one of Stark's machines was keeping a small, bubbling noise and the sounds of the city hummed behind the windows.

Thor wiped the hair off of his face and realised that his forehead was sweaty. The pressing feeling was still there. He wasn't used to nightmares. He had them very rarely and when that happened, it was always sort of panicked feeling; running away from some nameless horror or hurrying knowing that he wouldn't make it in time. This time it was different. He had been having these sort of dreams for a couple of weeks, even though it had been months since Loki's death.

"Loki…" he whispered and sighed. "Can you not leave me alone?" Then he realised how stupid it sounded and shook his head. He wouldn't sleep again this night, even the glowing numbers of the alarm clock told him that it was only four hours past midnight. Thor dropped his feet on the soft carpet next to his bed and straightened himself. He might as well drink something, he was thirsty.

The lights lit up on the ceiling when he stepped out of his room. The soft golden glow pleased him, it made him feel like he was at home, even if the corridor was otherwise far from Asgardian grandeur.

The actual kitchen was couple of floors down, but Thor had no desire of going there so he directed for a smaller one. Sometimes he had to wonder, if Stark ever needed the whole tower. On the other hand, he had grown up as a prince in a palace. His bare feet made a small noise on the carpet which covered the whole floor, except a small space in front of table tops. The kitchen lit up just as the corridor had, when he stepped in and took a glass from the cupboard. It looked like it was meant more for alcohol than for water. It didn't surprise Thor. Anyway, he opened the tap and waited the flowing water turn cold before he filled the glass and walked to the table.

He chose a chair from the door's end, because the other end was connected to the glass wall and right now he didn't want to be seen by people on the streets. (Which had nothing to do with the fact that he was wearing only his pajamas.) For a while, he just sat there and watched the dawning horizon behind the houses.

After a few moments he turned as he heard footsteps and saw as Steve Rogers walked in, wearing checkered pajama pants and a white t-shirt. He spotted Thor sitting at the table and looked like he had interrupted something.

"Oh, Thor, I… Bad time? I'll just take water and be off."

"Do not worry", Thor answered and nodded at his glass on the table. "If you want to stay, you are free to do so." Steve nodded, filled his glass and sat on the opposite chair.

"Not the only one then", he said and looked at Thor's half empty glass.

"I had… trouble with sleeping", Thor said calmly. "Nothing more." Steve nodded again and fixed his gaze on the table, thinking. Thor respected this man. He was calm and fair and rational, the one you could always count on. A perfect king, he couldn't help thinking. He also appreciated that he didn't ask more questions, usually he didn't like people doing that. Except Jane, but Jane was a whole different thing. This time, though, he had an urge to speak.

"…Rogers?"

"Steve, if you don't mind."

"Steve, do you ever have nightmares?" He knew he sounded like a child.

"Of course I do." He lifted his face from the table and looked at Thor. "Something… you want to talk about?"

"This is silly. I am a warrior. I'm a prince, almost a king! I shouldn't be distressed by mere dreams." Steve frowned.

"That isn't true. What was it about?" Before Thor could answer, he added: "Sorry, it's not my business. Forget that I asked."

"No, no. It's… fine. I just… It seems that I'm incapable of sleeping without Loki sneaking into my mind. It's becoming wearing." He said his brother's name very carefully, like it was something fragile which could break if you handled it too roughly and swept his face with his palm.

"Trust me, I know what that's like", Steve said and his gaze turned absent for a moment.

"You have dreams about my brother too?" asked Thor, confused. Steve chuckled.

"No, I mean having same kind of nightmares night after night."

"I see." They fell into silence. After a moment Steve rose and took his glass.

"Well, I'm going back to sleep. Stark's probably going to give me a hell lot of work tomorrow, still a few valuable hours left before that. You'll be okay, right?"

"Of course." Steve nodded and left the room. Thor remained where he was until the sun had risen, before he returned to his room.

... ... ...

It had been four days since Thor had arrived. Stark Tower was big enough for 20 people to live in and not come across with each other if that was what they wanted. At the moment there were only four people sleeping in there. Thor had come to Midgard to visit Jane, and after a week, when he was leaving, he decided to visit his other friends too. Why not, were they not his comrades as well? They had fought together after all. So here he was, with Stark, Banner and Rogers; Banner had said that he had some experiments to do in Stark's lab and Rogers was here just to say hello. He hadn't seen agents Romanoff or Barton, but considering their job, he didn't wonder why.

Stark was being hospitable and Thor found himself being happy here, although he already missed Jane and his home. For the first time he also had time to actually get familiar with the city and its surroundings. The first days he spent wandering in the city, but he had decided then that it was too… restless to spend too much time in. So this day he had gone further away.

"Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area", had Rogers… Steve said yesterday, "is a wonderful place. You really should go there. If you need some relaxing. It's great."

And he was right. After he had spent more than four hours walking between trees and streams and waterfalls, he decided that would Steve ever suggest him anything in the future, he would listen to him. The landscape was magnificent, and even if it couldn't quite match Asgardian environment, it was just what Thor had needed. Last weeks had been tiring despite Jane's warm company, much due to the nightmares.

Thor had put his hammer down (it was still the fastest way to travel) and was leaning into a tree. It was a magnifient thing, old and big, branches bent downward and covered with moss. It resembled a giant octopus. Thor picked a short thread from the hem of his red t-shirt. He had been given Midgardian clothes, since his Asgardian armour was sometimes a little too conspicuous. He flicked the thread away when he heard a distant rumble.

It couldn't be… he thought and glanced to the sky which was already turning orange behind the trees. Then, without a warning a huge flash of light hit the ground less than one hundred meters away from the place he was standing. Thor grabbed his hammer and ran forward. It was the Bifröst, no doubt. But who and why…? The light vanished as quickly as it had appeared and Thor saw three figures in the middle of the spot the light had hit, now decorated with the symbol the Bifröst had left. They were fighting, and he felt a rush of anger as he realized that two of them were Chitauri. The third one had a knife in his hand and before Thor had reached them, both of the Chitauri had fell to the ground, now laying unmoving. The man – for a moment Thor thought it was a woman – straightened and looked down, knees trembling. Thor didn't see his face until he was standing right behind him and he turned. The man's eyes widened for a moment, then he said: "Hello, brother", and collapsed limply onto the ground, unconscious.

For a moment Thor just stared. He just watched as Loki fell and a small pool of blood formed under him. His head was empty, everything that remained was just the shock. Thor shook his head slowly, not believing what he was looking at. It was not possible. It wasn't. This wasn't right. And still…

The fighting style was definitely Loki's. His voice had been raspy, but it was Loki's. The man laying at his feet had Loki's face, even his eyes were closed and he was very pale. That meant, paler than usual. His hair was black as Loki's but it was messy and long, longer than he had ever seen. It was also wet with fresh blood, and that was the point when Thor realized that he was still standing and holding his breath. He inhaled quickly and kneeled on the ground, hands hovering above his brother's chest.

"Loki…?" he tried. His voice was unsure, partly because he didn't know what to do and partly because he still didn't quite believe this. He slowly lowered his hand and touched Loki's chest. He was wearing a simple dark tunic and black trousers. The fabric felt unfamiliar and rough under his palm.

"Loki?" he said again and put his other had under his head and turned it a little. No response. He checked his pulse and somewhere under the confusion and shock he was relieved as he found it, weak and intermittent, but it was there. He scooped Loki carefully up into his arms and lifted him on his shoulder so that he could get hold of Mjölnir with the other hand. Then he lifted the hammer and they were gone in seconds.

An hour later, when SHIELD cars and agents arrived, all they found was a knife and two Chitauri bodies.