One of the worst things Thor had ever witnessed was Odin openly rejecting Loki with hatred when his brother was so vulnerable. Spending so much time on Midgard with his friends had humanised him more, and he hadn't had an explosive temper for years now - but here he was, consumed by rage as he and his father screamed at each other.

"Why would you bring him back here, Thor?!" Odin roared at his son. "When he disappeared, things were better! He wasn't there to put everything into chaos!"

"You're a stupid old fool!" Thor screamed back. He held his brother in his arms, still unconscious. His heart was shattered; he'd thought that if anyone would help him, it would be their father - but all Odin was doing was acting as if Thor had done some unforgivable deed bringing Loki back to Asgard. "My brother needs help, and you're his -!"

"I am not his king!" Odin had descended from his throne now, and in Thor's fifteen-hundred years, it was the first time his father had ever gotten in his face like a raging bull. "He should have been exiled to Jotunheim before he got your mother killed!"

Thor clutched his brother tighter. He spat back now. "Father, Loki was not of his right mind with what he did. He was used and manipulated when he attacked Midgard; his mind was damaged, and it got Mother killed. He did not set out with direct intentions to have her slaughtered!"

Odin became deadly quiet now, and Thor almost recoiled under the intensity of his glare. "He is not my son, Thor. Put him back where you found him and leave him. He has caused enough trouble. I should never have taken him in."

Thor felt the first tear roll down his cheek. He knew what Loki had done and he'd seen first-hand the devastation caused by his brother's hands - but throughout it all, never once had the thought of abandoning his little brother crossed his mind, not matter how furious with Loki he became. "You…. He's your -!"

"He is not my son!" Odin roared again. "Take him back and leave him to whatever fate will have him!"

Thor was getting nowhere with his father, and he knew that if he kept it up, it would only make the situation worse. If he allowed things to cool down, there was a chance he could talk his father into taking Loki back under his wing - but for now, all he was doing was pushing Odin away even more.

There was only one thing Thor could do right now, so with his teeth grit together, he turned his back to their king wordlessly and carried Loki from the throne room.

Loki still did not regain consciousness, and it was starting to scare Thor even more. "I swear, if that wizard did anything to you, brother, I will…"

Thor couldn't finish his train of thought, so instead he raised Mjolnir into the air and flew them to the end of the bridge where Heimdall was waiting his arrival.

"Heimdall." Thor didn't loosen his hold on Loki; if anything, it only tightened as he almost spat his words to his friend. "Our father has all but outcast my brother. Could you see him at all these past years?"

"I could not," Heimdall said softly. "Where was he found?"

"Midgard. Send me back there; I need to find my brother care."

Heimdall didn't question the request as he led Thor further inside so he could open the bifrost. Thor never let go of Loki, not even after he stepped out on Midgard in the middle of a field he hoped was close by his friend's' home.

"Loki…" Thor shifted Loki in his arms before he raised Mjolnir again to carry them through the sky. He didn't recognise the immediate surroundings, but the further he got in to the city, the more landmarks he recognised, and he knew he wasn't too far from his destination; he just had to find the right direction to go in.

He stopped in the middle of a small park to gather his bearings. It was night, which made it harder to navigate his way around, but at the same time, it was easy for him to approach the only civilian around; a woman out walking her dog.

Thor still didn't let go of his brother as he carried Loki to her, and though he was sure he appeared threatening in his approach, his tone held enough panic for her to realise she wasn't in immediate danger. "I need a cellular device!"

She handed it over with a puzzled expression on her face. She watched him struggle with it, getting no further than hitting random keys, before she murmured, "What do you need…?"

"I need to call Tony Stark." Thor passed back the phone in frustration; why was everything so against Loki? "I need him to help my brother."

"Okay, I can do that for you," she promised. "Do you know his number?"

Thor's expression darkened. "No, I do not. Do you not have it in your phone?"

"I don't know Tony Stark," she mumbled. "I need to know his number before I can save it into my phone."

Thor groaned as he scratched at his face. "Okay, then how do I get to Tony Stark's house from here?"

"If you mean Stark Tower, that's been sold." Thor felt his temper rising again with each answer; had this all been plotted against his brother? "I know they relocated Upstate. I don't know where exactly, but that's where they are now."

"I see…" Thor looked down at Loki; no matter what it took, he…. "What direction is Upstate in?"

"I don't know exactly; it's just - hey, wait a minute!"

Thor was getting nowhere with her. He racked his brains as he tried to figure out what he was going to do now. He still didn't understand a lot of the Midgardian ways, but perhaps he had been here enough times to - ah! Of course! Taxi! Bruce Banner had told him about taxis before!

"Come on, Loki." Thor adjusted Loki again, unaware it was quickly becoming a nervous habit. "Let us go find a taxi and ride it."

Just as he had since Thor had found him, Loki remained so unresponsive, Thor was starting to worry he was carrying around his brother's corpse.

When Thor had finally found the new Avengers Facility after what could have been an eternity, he didn't understand why his taxi driver chased after him, screaming about being paid. Thor didn't know if he was causing any disrespect, and if he was, he was sincerely apologetic, but his brother needed help and the man from the taxi could wait until Loki had been tended to.

"It is okay, Loki, we are just about there; you will get help in a second," Thor promised. The sun was slowly rising by now and it was a tad easier to see what was happening around them - but with the sunrise came shrill screeching sounds and flashing lights, and Thor could only raise Mjolnir as he looked around for the danger.

Thor growled as the screeching hurt his ears. Lightning rolled off him and Mjolnir as it crashed outwards and onto the flashing lights that were hurting Thor's eyes. It still didn't stop the ruckus, so he sent out more lightning to skirt along the walls of the building, trying to find the source of the noise.

"Stop!" Thor didn't know where the voice had come from, but he supposed it was all part of the trickery with the loud noises to throw him off his guard.

He growled again as something hit the ground in front of him. He looked down, his body tense and ready to fight, as he found a small impact crater by his feet that was smoking slightly. He held Mjolnir in front of him. "Show yourself!"

"Easy, Point Break."

Thor's body relaxed as everything calmed down; the lights were gone and the noise had stopped and the suit of armor Thor recognised as Tony Stark's had descended before him. "Tony Stark…"

The helmet was removed so Tony could see Thor better. He looked confused, and when his eyes fixed on the taxi driver who was standing frozen to the spot, he voiced his befuddlement. "Why is there a taxi driver chasing after you, Thor?"

"We rode in his taxi," Thor said with uncertainty. He clutched Loki tighter as his head started to spin; why couldn't this night just be over and done with? He'd been going since that morning with all this!

"Ah. You haven't paid him." Tony gestured to the front of the building where the glass doors of the entrance were. "Let yourself in while I pay him. Then we're going to have a talk about why you have your brother with you."

Thor strode towards the entrance, just glad to have finally found his friend again. He listened as Tony called out to the shell-shocked taxi driver to state, "Sorry about him; he doesn't know he has to pay; he's an alien."

He left the door open for Tony when he was to come back, and as he waited, he took a seat on the lobby couch and nursed his brother on his lap. "Loki…. What happened to you…?"

As expected, there was no reply. Thor sighed.

Tony didn't take long to return, and when he did, he stared at Thor in disbelief. He leant against the doorframe, still in his suit, almost as if he was so used to wearing it, he'd forgotten to step out of it. "Alright, Point Break, what's the deal? We haven't seen you in three years and now you rock up in the middle of the night with your brother, attacking my place."

Thor looked at his hands; where did he start? From the top, he supposed. "...I… was looking for more Infinity Stones… I got sidetracked and stuck in a cage for a while, but when I got out, I… Well, there was this wizard."

Tony raised his eyebrow. "Uh-huh. A wizard. Right. Are you bullshitting me, Thor?"

"No, honest." Thor clawed at his face as a loud growl escaped his throat; he was so exhausted with everything that had happened and he just wanted to sleep. "A wizard. He said his name was… Strange."

Tony opened his mouth to retort, to make some stupid pun about the name, but he didn't get a chance because Thor had thrown Mjolnir across the lobby and took out the wall opposite them. "Thor! What the hell, buddy!"

Thor grabbed at his hair and yanked at it. "He had my brother, Tony Stark! I don't know how long for but he had my brother and now Loki isn't waking up!"

Tony hurried close to put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Alright, alright, shh, shh. Don't go throwing hammers around in peoples' houses; I don't know about where you're from, but it's horrible manners on earth, bud."

"I apologise…" Thor kept one arm wrapped tightly around Loki as he used his free hand to rub at his face so harshly, he left red marks in his wake. "I just… I don't know what to do! I took Loki back to Asgard, but our father…. Our father would have none of it. He outcast Loki, and I have no idea what to do with him now!"

"So you thought you would just bring him back here, back to earth where he tried to enslave the population and kill us in the meantime?" At Thor's hurt, rejected expression, Tony sighed. "Look, pal…. It's just…. Damnit. Get some sleep. I've got a spare room for you two. Sleep, and we'll talk about this in the morning."

Thor nodded. He'd never felt so hurt and betrayed by so many people at once. First his father, and then Tony… He followed in silence as Tony lead him through the darkened corridors until finally, they'd stopped at a closed door.

"Here's a room for you, big guy. Your brother can have the -"

"- He stays with me." Thor's tone was possessive, and it left no argument in Tony. He dropped his shoulders as he murmured, "I do thank you, Tony Stark…"

"Another thing for us to talk about later is how we do shit on earth." Tony patted Thor's shoulder. "It's one or the other, Shakespeare. Tony, or Stark. Choose one. Goodnight."

"Goodnight…" Thor felt so out of place as he carried Loki into the room and over to the bed. He switched the bedside lamp on so he could get a better look at Loki.

Loki was still passed out, but now that Thor was paying attention, he could see how filthy and torn Loki's clothing was, and on skin that had always been pale but now was almost ghostly in appearance were bruises Thor couldn't mistake for anything but the handprints that they were.

Someone had hurt his brother, and if Thor ever found out who, he'd…!

But it would do no good to stress about things right now. He needed to sleep; he could stress when he woke up.

He worked slowly pulling Loki's clothing away until his brother was bare; while Loki was still dirty, his clothing was worse, and the last thing Thor wanted was to ruin their bed with grime.

Thor kicked off his own clothing as well and climbed in beneath the blankets with Loki in his arms. He closed his eyes, but no matter how long he laid there for, he couldn't fall asleep until the sun had risen almost completely and he could hear life all around him.