He landed them in a small wooded area. It was a little further out than the city, but that was the cost of using his ways in and out of worlds. They were dangerous and he was lucky that they had not landed in the ocean or worse, impaled on sharp rocks. He crouched down, hissing at the surprised mortals to be quiet. He had to be careful here because they knew the telltale feels of his magic. He dared not use it carelessly. Loki tentatively tested and cursed as he felt a barrier pressing against his senses that would prevent his teleportation. It would take him weeks to unravel magically. His choice of bringing the Avengers had been wiser than he'd even known since he would have to do this the hard way.

His green eyes flickered to the Bifrost, but it seemed darker and colder. Was Heimdall there? Unlikely, as there was no warrior more committed to the line of Odin than him. Despite his occasional sharp words, Heimdall had even treated him fairly until things had spiraled to hell with Thor's banishment two years ago.

"Where are we?" Natasha asked, whispering.

"Too far away," he said grimly and cautiously led them along the path. He saw no one in front of them, but the nearby gate into the city was closed. It was bright daylight; if they were going to scale the wall, or in the genius' case fly over it, it would have to be at night or they risked blowing everything before it had even begun.

"We'll have to wait until nightfall," Barton said, eerily seeming to read his thoughts.

Loki nodded, sitting on the grass abruptly. This was as good a place as any to wait, he supposed. Was Thor still alive? For all his words before, the thought that his brother was dead was unsettling and unpleasant. If anyone was to kill him, it had to be him. His thoughts, seemingly skittish, shied away from his brother and moved on to the more pressing questions. Where had this man even come from? What had been going on in the past two years that he had not been around to see? This wouldn't have happened if he'd been there!

"Why are you doing this?"

The abrupt words from Tony Stark startled him from his introspection. "What?"

"You've tried to kill him how many times now? Why should this matter? You seem awfully upset for someone that's claimed over and over that they aren't family."

"My reasons are my own. I am not obligated to share them with you," he spat, trying to ignore that he had been thinking the same thing.

"You know what I think? I think you do think of him as family and this is just a stupid childish resentment against him, thinking that the world should be nice to you. That it owes you something."

It took more strength than any of the Avengers would ever know to resist impaling Tony Stark on a spear of ice. How dare this man make light of what he had gone through, the darkness that had surrounded him as he grew up. He had not chosen what had happened, but after listening to the whispers, the taunts, the disdain for thousands of years, how else was he supposed to react? Loki had focused on a single goal for his entire life: make Odin proud. When it had seemed as if he'd failed that, he had been unable to hold his head up even once. He'd given up, because what else was there if even his own father had turned against him?

Tony was smirking in triumph, but when he opened his mouth to spew whatever greater invectives he held, Barton put his hand on his shoulder to stop him. Loki's green eyes met that of the genius' and he wondered if he appeared as murderous as he felt because whatever else he might have said died on his lips.

"Do not tempt my control," he whispered, deceptively sounding calm. "I am worse than my brother in ways you cannot even imagine. You know nothing of my life or who I am. The only reason you are here is I need you for Thor. Do you understand? I do not desire you here and your presence is more than just an annoyance to me. I will put up with you, but if you mention again, even once, that I am childish and refer to my youth, I will stop even your metal heart cold."

"What, you were expecting us to treat you nicely?"

"I don't care if you treat me nicely," he replied to Tony's snarl. "I don't even care if you hate me. What you feel for me doesn't matter. So long as you keep it to yourself, you are free to hate me to your heart's content. I'm not interested in anything other than revenge on the men that presume they can hurt my family."

He leaned back against the tree behind him and closed his eyes, reveling in the silence that surrounded them.

-0-

"Loki!"

Loki grinned before he could help it, hearing his brother thunder toward him from behind. He remained on the balcony, looking down at the courtyard and braced himself. He grunted just a bit as Thor grabbed him tightly from behind. Arms wrapped around his waist and he was yanked to a firm chest. "Brother dear," he said with a slight gasp as his air was knocked from his lungs, "while I appreciate your enthusiasm, you are aware of the picture this makes. Or did you intend to play a prank on everyone by making it seem as if we are intimate?"

"But we are intimate," Thor replied.

"As usual, you fail to realize what I meant. Did you want others to think that I share your bed?"

"They would not think that!"

"…Perhaps not," was all he would say on the matter. "Did you need something?"

"Need something? Loki, you've returned! Your absence was heavy and I missed you!"

"I was gone for a mere three months," he said, mock-complaining, even though he was reveling in knowing that Thor had wanted to see him, had noticed when he was gone on his training.

"How was it? Was it everything you hoped for? Did you learn anything?"

"Yes, dear brother, it was wonderful. The magic flowed freely there, pure and powerful. I learned so much and I ache to return to learn more."

"You are not planning on leaving again soon, are you?"

Loki looked to the side at his brother's face as it hovered next to his, the arms warm and comforting around him. Honestly, so long as he had his brother, mother, and father, it didn't matter what anyone said. He didn't care what they called him or how they treated him because the three most important people in his life were all that mattered. "No, not soon," he reassured.

Thor's concerned face lifted with its charming grin. "Then come, we must drink and toast to your return!"

"I will…on one condition."

"Always with your conditions… Very well, what is it?"

"I do not want a large gathering, Thor. In fact, I would prefer solitude, just you and I if you insist on drinking. I wish to relax now that I've returned."

"My celebrations do not relax you?"

"With a hundred to three hundred men present bellowing their accomplishments in battle? No, most definitely not." He idly rested his hand over the linked ones of his brother at his waist. Just a simple touch, a simple reminder that he had been gone, and he knew Thor would give in. It wasn't that Loki felt a great deal of enjoyment at manipulating his brother, but that if he didn't do it, it was likely he'd never get what he wanted.

Thor sighed, but smiled and squeezed him. Loki let out a huff of air as the motion caused his lungs to empty, and he grunted as Thor, in a playful manner, lifted him off his feet. "Very well, we will drink in my room until the sun starts to rise in the horizon and we are both so drunk our memories will flee from us!"

Loki laughed despite having no breath.

He jerked awake with a quiet gasp. He had…forgotten…how happy he'd been back then. Before he'd known he was Jotun, before there had been any emphasis on who was to be king, things had been good. Despite the distance he had felt in himself between him and Thor on that fateful coronation day, he had spoken the absolute truth: he loved Thor dearly and had been happy for him, despite his own resentment. He could still remember the cheeky smile and wink Thor had given him as he'd knelt, almost as if he were maiden, and he'd had to look down to keep from grinning back. It had been…fun then. When was the last time he'd had fun?

Something was dropped on his knee and he glanced down at a…handkerchief? Narrowing his gaze, he looked up at Banner, who sat down next to him without a word. It was not dark enough to scale the wall yet, but the sun had fallen. He didn't even realize what the cloth was for until Banner tapped at the corner of his own eye. Loki stiffened as he realized, by the feeling of his cheeks and eyes, that he had cried in his sleep.

Angered beyond belief, he scrubbed at his face with his hands, refusing to use the cloth. Loki hadn't been prepared for a memory, and he wasn't even sure why it had come to mind other than his fear that he had sent Thor to his death.

"You're really worried about them, aren't you? Your family?"

There was no condemnation in Banner's voice, just soft concern. "Does it matter?" he hissed, not wanting to draw the others into the conversation. The two SHIELD agents were asleep, even the genius seemed to be napping, but the super soldier was still awake, standing guard on the perimeter.

"Maybe to some," he replied softly.

"But not to any of you," he hissed back.

Instead of responding, Bruce seemed to think about it and commented, "Thor told me once that you and he were very close until recently. He says that the distance that formed between you two was mostly his fault." Their eyes met. "He said that if you'd shown even a hint that you wanted redemption, or could be saved, he'd drop everything to do it. I don't think that he thought you'd do the same for him."

"What makes you think—"

"We're here, aren't we? You're here."

"Do not attempt to play mind games with me," he spat.

"I'm not," the scientist protested. "I just wanted to know how you felt about it, that's all."

He studied the man mistrustfully and stood up. He rolled his shoulders once and turned, pausing when he glanced down at his hands. His wrists and neck were bandaged. Someone had wrapped some cloth they'd cut from his tunic around them, despite the fact that he'd told them before that they would heal on their own. His eye twitched and he looked at them all suspiciously. What was their game?

Loki spun on his heel and stalked toward the super soldier, who turned to watch him warily.

"I haven't seen any guards patrolling up on the walls."

"They'll be some on the ground," he said, his mouth a grim line. "I cannot properly plan like this." He turned to him. "I need you to wait here. I'll sneak in and then return."

"You're not going alone and leaving us here," said a voice behind him, gruff with sleep.

He glared at the genius that had woken up, the two SHIELD agents looking disgustingly awake despite their sleep only moments before. "Then explain to me how you are going to understand the best method to sneak past them into the palace? Your suggestion that you should go instead surely must mean you have thousands of years experience of the layout of this city, correct?"

"He's right, Tony," Steve said with an even grimmer frown. "We don't know this place and he does. I know he'll be back for us."

"What makes you so confident of that?"

"Because if he doesn't, what was the point of bringing us? He needs us. What good are we to his plans if he doesn't come back?"

"Amazing, there is a brain cell among the lot of you," Loki said and dashed out in the darkness toward the wall.