Disclaimer: Don't own anything!

Warning: Delicate themes!

AN: A story has ended, so I thought it was time to start a new one. I just can't get enough of this fandom which I don't mind :) There will be no slash and the other chapters will be longer. This is more an introduction. I can only hope that this story will be enjoyed. Let me know what you think or what you expect of this story!

~ Hometown Glory ~

Chapter 1

As usual, Thor came home to a silent house. It was a little after four in the afternoon and he knew his parents wouldn't be home for at least another hour and that the best case scenario. They both had busy jobs and Thor understood how hard they worked. They did it for him and Loki after all, to grant them positive futures. Odin was the chief of police while Frigga had worked her way up in the local hospital. She was now the dean of medicine.

Life in the Odinson-family was always been easy. There were times in Thor's childhood that he had not seen his parents days in a row. He had been close to his nanny, but still he had missed his parents dearly. As he had grown older and wiser, he understood how his little family worked and Thor felt grateful that he still had Loki. They were close as brothers, always having each other's back.

Loki had been a difficult child and Thor had taken it upon himself to look after his little brother. Where Thor had been surrounded by friends, Loki had been a loner. But where Loki lacked in strength, he made up for in intellect. Thor was convinced his brother was smarter than the warriors three combined at times. That was why the house was always quiet when Thor came home. Loki always buried his nose in books, reading and studying.

Dropping his bag into a corner of the grand living room, he hurried upstairs. He didn't bother to knock when he entered Loki's bedroom, but he was surprised to find the room completely empty. Like always, everything lay neat - a little too neat for Thor's liking. Loki's book stood alphabetized on four different shelves, his bed was made and his desk was empty. Thor frowned, not understanding where Loki could be.

"Loki?" He exited the bedroom and glanced down the hallway. He hadn't noticed it before, but he could hear the running of water now. It came from the bathroom at the end of the hall and Thor approached it quickly. Two times he knocked on the door. "Loki?" he asked again.

There came no reply and for a moment, Thor thought his brother hadn't heard him due to the running water and so he knocked again. Everything stayed quiet.

"Loki, are you all right?" Thor pressed an ear against the wood of the door, trying to hear anything beyond the water. "Loki, open up."

He waited a few seconds and Thor suddenly found his heart picking up speed. He rapped on the door again, more forceful this time. "Loki, I demand you open this door!" He threw his fist against the wood. "Loki!"

He stepped back, refusing to take any unnecessary risks. He inhaled deeply and then threw his entire body against the door, forcing it to open. He stumbled into the bathroom and half expected Loki to scowl at him and call him a beast for acting so brusque.

What he saw, however, made his heart skip a beat.

Loki lay in bath, fully dressed. His clothes clung to his lean body as the pink water completely submersed him. Without thinking, Thor wrapped his trembling arms around Loki's body and hauled him from the warm water. At first he thought his brother must have had an accident, but then he spotted the deep cuts in his wrists. They were still bleeding and Thor frantically searched for something to stop it.

He found a pair of white towels and quickly bound them around Loki's wrists. With shaking hands, he brushed aside some of Loki's wet, black hair, revealing his deathly, pale face.

"Loki," Thor breathed, founding comfort in feeling Loki's faint pulse beneath his fingers, "Loki, open your eyes."

Nothing happened, however, and Thor inhaled deeply. He needed to focus en forced himself to think clearly. He grabbed deep within his pocket and found his cellphone. He needed to call 911, but he wasn't sure what to say. He put aside his insecurity, however, knowing that there was little time to loose. A kind, female voice answered and Thor began to ramble everything that had happened.

"All right, sir," the woman replied calmly, "what is your address?"

Thor gave it to her.

"Can I ask your name?"

The question confused him, but Thor answered none the less. "My name is Thor Odinson," he said, "Loki is my brother. Please hurry, he needs help!"

"An ambulance is on its way, sir," the woman replied.

The cellphone slipped from Thor's grasp then as he'd tried to readjust his hold on Loki. He didn't bother to pick it up and in stead focused on the towels wrapped around Loki's wrists. They had turned a deep red color which sickened Thor slightly, but he restrained himself from retching. Loki needed his complete attention and Thor would give it to him.

"Help is coming, Loki," he whispered, feeling strangely exhausted, "please, just hang in there."

For the shortest second, Thor had expected Loki to open his eyes and answer him in a demeaning manner. Thor only assumed that is what Loki would do in the situation. Thor had never really shown Loki his softer side, believing that he needed to be the strong big brother. How foolish he had been!

In the distance, the sirens of an ambulance could be heard and Thor felt torn. He should go outside so that he could guide the medics through the large house, but he didn't want to leave Loki behind. He considered carrying his brother downstairs, but he had seen enough movies to know that could be dangerous. The movement could cause Loki's heart rate to fasten which would only lead to more blood loss.

Reluctantly, he released Loki and hurried from the bathroom. When he stepped through the front door, the ambulance. had already pulled up on the driveway, two medics jumping out of the car. Thor motioned to them and they hurried forward.

"He's upstairs," he informed them. The two medics nodded and disappeared inside. Thor took the opportunity to steady himself. He closed his eyes for a moment, but he could only see Loki's lifeless body laying in bath. He quickly opened his eyes and turned on his heels, following the two medics inside.

By the time he reached the bathroom again, one of the medics had already applied an IV in Loki's right arm while the other was applying proper bandages around his wrists. The tips of Loki's fingers were turning slightly blue, as were his lips and the skin around his eyes. He looked horrible and Thor forced himself to focus on Loki's rising chest. At least he was still breathing, he told himself, that was a good thing.

"We are going to take him to General Hospital," the oldest of the two medics told the stunned Thor, "you can ride with him if you want."

Slowly, Thor nodded. "General Hospital," he repeated, "my mother..." He suddenly had trouble voicing his thoughts as his gaze remained fixed upon Loki's form. "Frigga Odinson, she's our mother."

The second medic focused on Thor. "I understand," he said, knowing that Frigga was the dean of that hospital, "we'll inform her on our way there."

And like that, Thor found himself sitting besides his unconscious brother in the back of an ambulance. One medic was driving while the other kept working on Loki's wrists and IV. Other than the sirens, Thor could only hear a machine monitoring Loki's heartbeat which brought him comfort. At least he didn't have to stare at his brother's chest all the time to make sure he was still alive. He really wanted to grab Loki's shoulders and shake him awake, demand what the hell he'd been thinking, but in stead, Thor sat still.

He was only just beginning to realize what Loki had done and it horrified him.