Thor received a call about an hour after he and Jane arrived at the bar. It wasn't that busy, a few regulars and some people who were slumped over drinks. It was only a Tuesday, after all, and the bar wasn't that popular.

They took a table off to the side and Thor went to order drinks - a beer for both of them. Thor had tried to buy her one of the sweeter, fruit-flavored drinks once. She'd laughed at him and ordered shots instead, and Thor hadn't made the mistake since.

They were sitting across from each other, Thor's phone on the table between them, talking intently. They'd been thinking, about possibly moving in together, and both wanted to proceed, but they had some logistics to work out first, they both knew that.

Thor's phone vibrated on the table, buzzing loudly against the linoleum and moving to the side slightly with each vibration. He looked down at it and saw the photo of his mother that he'd set as the ID. He reached for the phone, but Jane made a disapproving sound. "Can't it wait?"

"It's my mother, my lady. I should take this."

Jane rolled her eyes, but waved her hand. "Fine, fine, answer it."

Thor chuckled and picked up his phone. "Hello, mother, what can I do for you at this late hour?"

His mother sounded hysterical, sobbing into the phone, but through the panic, he made out the words, "Thor, Loki's hurt. You need to get to the hospital."

"Mother, what-"

"He's been shot, Thor!"

Less than twenty minutes later, they were rushing into the hospital waiting room. They went immediately for Thor's mother and father, sitting in the corner. Odin was stone-faced as ever, but Frigga was hunched over, appearing frail and weak as Thor had never seen her, and she shook slightly, as if sobs were still wracking her body, even after her tears had run dry.

She looked up when she heard footsteps, and Thor could tell by the way her face fell that she'd expected a doctor, come to give her news, but there was a different kind of relief that washed over her when she saw them. "Thor," she said, rising and pulling him into her arms.

Thor embraced her tightly. "Mother, tell me what has happened?"

"He's in surgery. T-There was a robbery, a restaurant got held up, and Loki was there. They have the man in custody, he panicked and ran out, then turned himself in, and the cashier called 911 after the robber ran out."

"Is he going to be alright?" Jane asked, eyes wide with shock and concern.

Frigga lifted her shoulders uselessly. "They don't know. I haven't had any news since I arrived."

A doctor appeared then, approaching them. "Is he okay?" Frigga demanded before the doctor could even speak.

"They've removed the bullet and stabilized him, so there's no immediate concern there..."

Frigga breathed out a sigh of relief and collapsed back into her chair. "Thank the gods..."

"But," the doctor said tersely, causing Frigga's head to snap back up.

"But?" she demanded.

"He's lost a lot of blood. He's in a coma."

"Well, wake him up!"

"It's not that easy. Comas are one of the body's defense mechanisms. At this point, ven if we could, waking him could do more harm than good, especially because we don't know why he's in a coma."

"So what do we do?" Frigga asked.

"We can't run any tests on him tonight. He's stable, and he's in recovery right now. We have him hooked up to IVs to fight infection and maintain his condition. You can visit him, if you want." He told them the room number and Frigga quickly hurried down the hall to the room, stopping in the doorway.

Loki looked bad. He was pale, paler than usual, even, and his flesh had a thin, sickly sheen of sweat over it. There were dark circles under his eyes. His hair was matted sticking to his forehead, and there was a tube running down his throat, keeping him breathing.

Frigga froze for a moment, staring at him, but Odin placing his hands on her shoulders seemed to break her trance, and she rushed to his side, taking her son's hand in her own. Thor entered the room behind his father, holding Jane's hand, and moved to stand at the foot of the bed, staring at his brother. It had been years since he's seen Loki, such a strong-willed man, so weak.

He'd been sickly, as a child. A couple times he'd even been hospitalized. Usually when that happened, he slept so much, he hardly remembered any of it, but Thor always stayed there with him, making up stories, telling him this and that, until Loki was well enough to come home. Thor thought it was his duty as a big brother to take care of Loki.

But it had been years since he'd seen Loki suffer from so much as a cold. He honestly hadn't thought he'd ever again see Loki so weak, so broken. He squeezed Jane's hand without realizing it, and she rubbed his arm with her free hand.

Frigga slept there that night. Thor wanted to stay, but Frigga insisted that Thor go home and sleep, only half-kidding when she told Jane to drug him, if necessary. She also made Odin go home, instructing him to return in the morning with fresh clothes for her and coffee - the good stuff, not just what they'd have down in the hospital cafeteria.

After they'd all gone home, she pulled up a chair and sat by his bead, refusing to let go of his hand, though she was careful not to interfere with or irritate the IV that was running into the arm. She brushed the hair back from his face, muttering to herself about how it was time for him to get it cut, and dabbed away the sweat with a paper towel from the bathroom.

In short, she acted as his mother, and cared for him through the night.

She awoke the next morning feeling stiff and tired. She was leaning forward, head resting on the bed beside her son with his hand still clasped in hers. She looked around wearily to find the source of her awakening, and her eyes landed on Odin.

"Good morning, Frigga," he said, entering the room and setting the coffee on the nightstand next to her. "How is he?"

She shrugged. "The same, I think. No different, as far as I know." He nodded and pulled up a chair next to hers, sipping his own coffee in silence. "What time is it?"

He glanced at the watch, the face at the inside of his wrist. "It's a little after seven in the morning."

She grunted, taking a long pull of her coffee.

"I brought you fresh clothes, they're on the chair whenever you want them."

"Thank you husband," she murmured, reaching over to squeeze his wrist.

"Loki's always been stubborn," Odin said, looking at her. "He'll pull through."

"I know he will," Frigga said, nodding. "I'm simply worried about lasting effects."

They took Loki away around 8, saying they needed to run some tests and take some scans. Frigga just nodded, and Odin signed off on everything, so they were left in the room to wait.

According to all the scans and tests, they couldn't find anything wrong with him. Aside from the wound from the bullet - which, they assured her, was already healing quite nicely - Loki was in perfect health. They'd stabilized him, and they had him on enough IV fluids to fill an Olympic swimming pool, but still he didn't respond.

"Sometimes, the brain just needs to reset itself," one of his doctors told them. "It's like rebooting a computer. It needs to shut off and turn itself back on. There's nothing we can do about it. It takes time, but he'll come back to you. There's no reason for him not to."

His words should have been reassuring, but somehow, the end just seemed to carry a sense of foreboding for all of them.

On the second day of Loki's coma, Thor showed up around noon. He had a can of Dr. Thunder in one hand and a sandwich and bag of chips from Subway in the other. "Mother?" he said, leaning into the room. Loki had since been moved from recovery to the ICU, where the doctors planned to keep him until he woke again.

Frigga looked up and gave him a tired smile. "Hello, Thor."

Thor entered and came over to her. "You need rest. You should go home."

She shook her head no.

"I will watch over him." He held up the sandwich. "Loki and I have a lunch date right now, I can't skip it." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "If there are any changes, you will be the first I call. Now go, get some sleep. Worrying yourself sick won't help him, and you know it."

She sighed and nodded, standing and looking up at him. She placed a hand on her son's cheek, opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, nodded, and left.

Thor sank into the vacated chair, placing his lunch on the bedside table and looking over his brother. Loki was looking better. He wasn't quite as pale and the bags under his eyes had faded somewhat. The breathing tube had been removed when he'd been moved to his own room. One could almost believe Loki was sleeping, if not for the IV's.

"Hello, brother," Thor said, smiling despite himself. "I'm here for our lunch date. You said you wouldn't miss it, so, well, I figured I didn't have an excuse to, either." He reached for the bag of chips - Lays barbecue - and opened the bag. "I'd offer you a bite, but, well..." He trailed off awkwardly. "The Lady Jane has asked me to pass along her regards. She has not been able to visit in several days, as she's been tied up with work at her lab, but she's been trying to get away."

"Speaking of the Lady Jane! I have news, brother. You mustn't tell Mother and Father, because we wish to tell them ourselves, but we are thinking of moving in together. We haven't made any final decisions yet, but I believe we're going to find an apartment."

"Of course, Father wouldn't approve. Mother, though... She and Jane get on quite well, I believe she would be alright with it. She is, after all, far less traditional than Father."

Thor continued to talk, telling Loki about Jane, about work, about the people he'd met when Jane had brought him to a party with all the people she worked with. Among them was an engineer. He'd drunk so much at the party that he'd straddled the back of a couch like a horse and sang "Eye of the Tiger" until he fell backwards and passed out on the floor.

He talked in that manner until he finished his lunch, and then he just sat there beside his brother a while longer, until Frigga returned. Her hair was neater, her makeup done, and her clothes were fresh, neat, and clean.

"I couldn't bare to stay away," she said by way of explanation. "How is he?"

"The same, mother. There's been no change." He stood, offering her the chair, and she sank into it with a grateful nod.

"I miss him," she murmured.

"He's still here," Thor said fiercely. "Saying that he isn't is the same as giving up on him."

She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and didn't say anything.

Thor stood there for a moment, then said, "I have to go, but I'll be back tomorrow. Please, mother, just keep hope? That's all we can do right now."

Frigga nodded and squeezed Thor's hand. "Thank you, my son. I will remember that."

Four days later, still nothing had changed. It was wearing on the whole family, constantly worrying about Loki, and even Thor had started to wonder what would happen if he just...never woke up.

But on the fifth day, while Frigga sat beside his bed clutching his hand, praying to the gods for his safe return, something amazing happened.

Frigga felt the slightest twitch against her hand, as Loki's fingers squeezed ever so lightly.

Her eyes widened immediately, focused on Loki, trying to detect any sign of movement. And there it was! Loki was starting to stir.

"Nurse!" she cried. "Nurse, he's waking up!"


Loki opened his eyes slowly, wincing against the bright light. It took him a moment to focus, longer than he would have liked. He shifted, taking a deep breath. He felt sore all over, sore and weak, and oh, no he really shouldn't move his shoulder. What was that? Why did it hurt so much to move his arm.

His eyes fell on his mother. She was crying, but she was looking at him in amazement, so he was pretty sure they were happy tears. Her lips were moving wordlessly and he smiled up at her.

"Mother, what happened?" he tried to say. But the words didn't come out.

He tried again, forming the words carefully. It felt like he was speaking, but he didn't hear anything.

Loki looked up at Frigga in alarm. "Mother, say something, please." Frigga's brows pulled together, and her lips moved, but Loki heard nothing. "Oh my gods. I can't hear. I can't hear!"

He panicked, lashing out, but he was restricted by the tubes running into his hands. He started ripping at them, trying to get them out, trying to get free. Then, a large body pressed down on him and large hands wrapped around his wrists.. A nurse, he realized, but he refused to be retrained, fighting against the man's hold. There was the sharp pain of a syringe in his hip, and for the second time, everything went black.