Disclaimer: I own nothing from Marvel, THOR or the Avengers. Leigh Harris is my own creation.

A/N: This story was inspired by another story that I read on , I love breaking down strong characters, looking deep into their psyches and slowly putting them back together again.

The door cracked open and Agent Leigh Harris nearly vomited; the man in the room was nearly unrecognizable. His dark hair was a tangled mess and his face a mass of bruises. A metal ball was inserted in his mouth and held in place with a thick leather strap. He was tied to a chair and was clad only in jeans, which were torn and bloody. His head hung limply against a chest that was nothing more than an expanse of new and slowly healing bruises.

She took a shaky step forward and finally recognized who she was looking at. She slowly turned to face the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. The fury building in her would have made her boss's last name look insignificant.

"You weren't willing to blow up Manhattan, but this…this is acceptable?"

"He's a war criminal." Fury said, his one good eye surprisingly devoid of emotion.

"Never in our history has anyone, other than the Nazis, tortured war criminals!" she shrieked, she could feel her blood pressure rising. "You…you need to get away from me Director."

"And what are you going to do?" Fury asked, seeming unimpressed with her display of anger.

Before he could blink he was pinned against the wall of the cell, a force-field pressing him tighter and tighter; Leigh could hear him gasping for breath but couldn't bring herself to care. This was so incredibly wrong. She tapped her earpiece and spoke softly.

"I found him."

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

The trip back to Stark Tower had been an agonizing one; she was glad that Stark has his own helicopter and helipad at the tower.

She'd used her "gifts" to open the locks that bound his hands and feet to the chair he was sitting on and then had used a sharp knife to slice the leather strap that held his gag in place. A tear slid down her cheek when some blood trickled out of his mouth when she removed the silver ball.

"What have they done to you?" she whispered to his unconscious form.

Another large leather strap held him in the chair and once Rogers had arrived she unbuckled it and the Captain had scooped the unconscious man into his arms and carefully carried him to the waiting chopper, setting him on the gurney and covering him with a blanket. The shallowness of his breaths worried her, but at least he was breathing.

"Does Thor know?" she asked, her eyes watching as Stark started up the chopper and brought them home.

"He knows he's been found." Rogers answered over the mics in their ears. "His condition, no."

Leigh nodded and reached under the blanket to gently rest her hand on the hand at his side.

"What did they do to him?" Rogers asked, looking at the unconscious figure.

"I think the better answer is what didn't they do to him." Leigh sighed, "I don't know what happened to Fury or to S.H.I.E.L.D., but this is not what I signed up for."

~A~A~A~A~A~

Pepper Potts was waiting for them when they got back; her already fair skin went ghost white when she saw the man on the gurney.

"Dr. Banner is waiting in the exam room." She whispered, her eyes glued to his face. "Tony?"

Tony Stark was at the foot of the gurney, Rogers at the front and Harris at the side as they rolled their 'package' towards Banner.

"They tortured him Pepper." Tony said, "I don't know why, how or for how long but it must have been excessive and repetitive for him to look like this."

Leigh hadn't let go of his hand the entire trip, but when they got the exam room she slipped into her "nurse mode" and helped them get him on the table and then turned to Banner.

"Alright Doc, what do we do?"

"Tell me what you see." Banner said, pulling the blanket off their patient.

"Multiple contusions and lacerations." She let her eyes roam, "Possibly dislocated left shoulder, ligature marks at the wrists and ankles. Large dark contusion on right side could indicate broken or fractured ribs."

"Alright, so let's x-rays and take a look at how bad the internal damage is." Banner said, moving the equipment around.

Leigh looked at the images popping up on the screen in front of her and nearly vomited again. All but one of his ribs were broken, his left shoulder was indeed dislocated, both of his lower legs were broken and his jaw was dislocated. She was overwhelmed with what she and Bruce had to do. There were more tears in her eyes as she looked at the man, no the god, laying on the surgical table and she thought of the time and effort it would take to put him back together again.

Thor had told them he was banished from Earth in mortal form, much like Thor had been; when Thor hadn't been able to find him after a few weeks he'd grown concerned, but hadn't want to alert S.H.I.E.L.D. to the fact that he was on Earth. Judging by the condition their patient was in, he'd been found not long after he'd gotten to Earth.

"Banner, can we even fix him?" she turned to her friend and fellow physician.

"Physically, sure," Banner nodded, "his mind on the other hand, I don't know."

~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh exited the surgical suite exhausted; they'd worked for what felt like days setting bones and either splinting or casting his injuries and she'd been in tears for most it. The only saving grace when they relocated his shoulder and jaw was that he was still unconscious and hadn't screamed. The tears were still tracking down her face as she walked into the kitchen. Tony and Steven were sitting at the table, but neither was saying anything and it was obvious they hadn't been saying much before she entered either.

"How is he?" Tony asked, his voice uncharacteristically somber.

"Broken." She whispered, her voice breaking.

Steve caught her before she hit the ground and gathered her into his arms. She sobbed against his chest. The pain in her cries tore him apart. As much as he didn't like the man they'd rescued, he disliked seeing his friend so upset even more. He slowly rubbed her back, helping her calm down.

"Where is Thor?"

"He went back to Asgard, he wanted to tell Odin that we'd found him."

Leigh nodded and slowly stood. She walked out to the balcony and hoped this would work.

"Ho Heimdall!" She took a deep breath, "Please tell Thor I have news of his brother and need to speak to him. Thank you!"

She turned around and went back inside, not sure how long it would take the Gatekeeper to deliver the message or how long it would take the God of Thunder to return to Earth. Bruce walked into the kitchen looking as exhausted and drained as she did.

"So he'll live?" Stark asked, apparently unsure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Yes, he'll live." Banner announced, "Surprising, except for the broken bones and cuts and bruises, there was no damage done. I mean, obviously that's a lot of damage, but I'm rather surprised by the lack of damage to his internal organs."

Leigh couldn't handle hearing Bruce go over all of the injuries again. She wandered back to the observation room and look in on their patient.

"Oh Loki." She breathed, her eyes tearing up again. "No words will ever be enough to describe my sorrow and disgust at what has been done to you."

"Nor mine." A deep voice to her right startled her.

The man standing next to her was not Thor, it was a man she had never expected to meet, ever. His white hair brushed his collar and he sported a full beard. Tears trailed from his left eye, which she knew was the only one he had.

"All-Father." She whispered and dropped to her knees.

"You do not need to kneel to me child." He said, his voice hoarse. "You have saved my son, for that you will always have my thanks."

"We have saved his body All-Father," she choked back tears, "I fear his mind may be even further damaged by what has happened."

Odin Allfather nodded at the Midgardian's words; he knew the betrayal Loki felt over the realization that he was not Asgardian and the hatred he had for his brother's adopted world. He feared that what the humans had done to him would not endear them to his adoptive son as he had hoped time on Midgard would allow.

"You weep for my son."

"I do." She turned to face Odin, showing him her tear streaked face without shame. "I would weep for anyone forced to endure what he endured."

"Thor told me that the people you work for are the ones who did this." Odin turned to face her and she fought the urge to tremble.

"Yes All-Father." She sighed, "I did not know that they had your son or that this was what they were doing to him; it disgusts me that they would do this. I will be resigning."

Odin nodded, "you are an honorable woman."

Leigh was stunned, such a compliment from the King of Asgard did not come lightly.

"With respect All-Father, why did you come and not Thor?"

"Thor is here, he is with his friends." Odin answered, "I wished to see my son, for whether he accepts me as father or not, I still care a great deal for him."

Leigh nodded, "I understand."

The two stood in silence, watching the god made mortal lying in the other room; Leigh checked the vitals through the window and sighed. All of a sudden the monitors started going nuts and Loki started thrashing on the bed.

"Banner!" she screamed into her earpiece, "Loki's seizing!"