Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever owned the rights to Marvel Comics or its characters. It all belongs to Marvel, Disney, Stan Lee, and whoever else has the rights. I am not making any kind of profit off of this work, it is all just for fun and freedom of expression.
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Warning: Graphic descriptions of violence and sexual content.
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Chapter 3
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Warm water cascaded over bruised and cut blue skin once more as Bruce and Clint used the medical table's built in hoses to bathe Loki's body now that they had successfully extracted all the foreign metal that had been imbedded in him. Tony had stepped away to get bandages, tape, and the hand held suturing and stapling machines he had designed while the Medical Wing had still been in construction. He figured they would come in handy for those really bad emergencies that needed to be stitched or stapled up faster than regular human hands were capable of, but he just didn't know if these devices would work on the bones and flesh of a fallen Norse God. They would just have to use the heavy duty settings and see what would happen. Tony returned, pushing a small cart that was laden with a mountain of supplies and equipment, and it looked like they would be use all of it.
This time around the water was not as red as it swirled down the exam table's drains, but no less bitterly tainted with blood and loss.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Medical Wing, more water was cascading, only this water was searingly hot, too hot for any normal person to withstand. This torrent came down hard from three separate state of the art, jet-stream shower heads that were built into the walls of the shower stall, washing over the tanned, slightly bruised and battered body of the shower's single occupant.
Steve stood under the scalding onslaught, his blue eyes fixed downward on the drain between his feet, watching as the water swirled down into it, carrying away the dirt, alien guts, and his own blood and sweat from his skin. He didn't really even feel the hot deluge that was bombarding him, his mind invariably focused on one thing.
Loki.
In his mind, Steve's memories of the God of Mischief clashed, the maniacally grinning would be conqueror of Earth who had fought with him in Stuttgart verses the pale and still body laying on a cold metal slab on the other side of this floor of the tower, who's head he had needed to hold onto to keep steady while he had pulled that awful fragment out.
Steve screwed his eyes shut tightly as images of a cleaved open skull and brain matter with a gleaming set of surgical tongs sticking out of it danced across his vision unbidden and in full, gruesome detail.
The super soldier reached up and braced his hands against the frosted glass wall of the shower and bowed his head, getting a face-full of boiling hot water. It did nothing to stop the memories. With a low groan, Steve hit the glowing white button to shut the water off and stepped out of the shower stall in a cloud of steam, The cool air outside the stall hit Steve's bare, reddened skin like the crack of a whip, but Steve paid it no attention as he grabbed the two large, dark gray towels he had left on the rack on the other side of the stall door. Wrapping one of the towels around his trim waist, Steve used the other to mechanically dry his hair and upper body. Once he was done, Steve shuffled over to the nearby hamper and tossed the used towel into it. He then walked over to one of the closets Jarvis had said he could get some fresh clothes in his size. He pressed a button on the door's panel, the door chiming and sliding away to reveal the closet's contents.
It was nothing fancy Steve could see that there were also hoodies, t-shirts, and sweatpants in neutral colors, along with flat sneakers in white or black. It made sense seeing as to how this was the Medical Wing. It was designed to be a place where the sick and wounded could be tended to, and those doing the tending could look professional and uniform.
With a sigh and still feeling like he wanted to crawl out of his skin, Steve picked out a plain white t-shirt and a dark blue hoodie and sweatpants, and a pair of plain white sneakers. Holding the clothes to his chest, Steve made his way over to where he had left his dirty uniform and boots. He reached for one of his boots and pulled out the socks he had shoved into them before he had gone into the shower stall. He wiped down his lower half a final time before quickly donning the sweatpants and t-shirts. He then sat down on the metal bench that was in the center of the area between the shower stalls and the lockers. He pulled on his socks and then the sneakers.
As he tied them, Steve felt his lips start to tremble for a second. With a shaky breath he just hunched over and allowed himself this moment to not be so stoic, to not be so composed. He couldn't for the life of him understand why he was feeling this way, feeling so awful and raw.
He had been through war, he had seen its horrors, and he had been through today, going up against aliens with advanced weaponry, seeing the casualties, the destruction and death. It saddened him to his very soul, all of it, but it still didn't leave him feeling as he did now.
All he could think about was Loki.
Those vacant, otherworldly red eyes, not blue, red.
It seemed so obvious now, in hindsight, but it wasn't just the guilt of knowing now that Loki had not been in control, that they had been fighting his reanimated corpse the whole time, meaning Loki had not wanted to conquer Earth, that was making Steve feel this way. No, it was this indescribable feeling of desolation, of loss.
It confused Steve because up until a little while ago, Loki and Thor, Asgard, and everything else was all just Norse mythology one would read in a book, not this, not real, corporeal beings and an actual place in existence somewhere out there in the universe. As he sat there and hung his head, Steve couldn't for the life of him understand why the realization that they never knew the real Loki, that he was never going to ever know the real Loki made him feel like a great chasm was cleaving its way through him to the very core of his soul.
Why?
Thor he could understand, Loki was his beloved little brother, but why him? Why did Steve want Loki back so badly it stole the breath from him?
With a choked off sniffle, Steve shook his head and forced himself to sit up straight. Clearing his throat and forcing away his strange grief, Steve picked up the dark blue hoodie and put it on as he rose to his feet.
Taking a deep breath, Steve composed himself back into a mask of stoicism once more and spoke.
" Hey Jarvis, do Tony and the others need me for anything else?" He asked quietly.
" One moment Captain Rogers, let me ask sir." Jarvis answered.
A moment later inside the exam room, Tony looked up from the wound on Loki's back that he was suturing when Jarvis' voice sounded.
" Pardon the interruption sir, but Captain Rogers wanted to know if you needed his assistance for anything else."
Tony turned to Clint and Bruce. Much to their relief, the strongest setting on the suturing and stapling machines had actually worked on Loki, slowly knitting his torn flesh closed and holding firmly. Knowing this, the three of them had decided to work together to stitch up the awful wounds on Loki's back, the ones that spelled out that abhorrent word across Loki's shoulders.
" Tell him to head on upstairs and get back to Point Break, don't want the God of Thunder getting suspicious. We'll bring Loki up soon." Tony said, earning nods from Clint and Bruce before they all went back to suturing the jagged wounds, quickly, but carefully.
" Understood sir." Jarvis replied before he went off to tell Steve.
Once the three Avengers finished stitching up Loki's back wounds, Bruce taped several large, rectangular sheets of medical gauze over the entire thing to cover it up. They then split up and took care of the other wounds that littered Loki's back and legs. Bruce took charge of treating Loki's private area, knowing that stitches would be needed there as well. While Bruce took care of that delicate area, Clint went about bandaging Loki's fingers and the smaller cuts that littered his arms, while Tony did the same for Loki's mutilated feet and legs.
When that was done, Bruce carefully turned Loki over and picked him up halfway from the exam table so that Clint and Tony could wipe away the residual blood that stained the table from the wounds that were still open on Loki's front, to keep the newly placed bandages clean. Bruce couldn't help but feel how light Loki was, and Jarvis had reported that starvation was a part of the torture Loki had been forced to endure.
Bruce eased Loki back down once the table was cleaned and they all got back to patching Loki up. They stitched smaller cuts, rinsed and suctioned out the blood from Loki's mouth and stitched the cuts to his tongue. They had been chilled to see that several back teeth had been ripped out. They stitched and bandaged the wicked bite marks that littered Loki's entire body, Tony's machines making quick and efficient work. By the end of it, the only thing left was the wound on Loki's head, the killing blow.
" I don't think we'll be able to staple his skull back together, so the best we can do is plaster the gap and then stitch his scalp up over it." Bruce explained.
Clint and Tony both winced at this but agreed. Tony reached and showed Bruce where the medical plastering feature was. Bruce sent Tony an appreciative look before he turned his attention back to Loki and started pulling the plaster to use filling in Loki's damaged skull. Once he was done, it thankfully took only a few minutes for the plaster to harden and a protective layer over Loki's exposed brain. Bruce then set the machine back on suturing mode, checking with Tony to make sure everything was correct before he started carefully stitching Loki's scalp, making sure to avoid as much of the prince's long black hair as he could while he worked. They had found other, smaller wounds all over Loki's head, no doubt the lingering evidence of other, non-fatal beatings and had carefully stitched every last one until only the big, gaping wound was left.
A few minutes later, Bruce put in the last stitch to Loki's head wound and then sighed.
" Ok, that's the last one." The Hulk's other half said tiredly.
Clint let out a deep breath and hung his head while Tony cross his arms and tilted his head back, closing his eyes and breathing deep.
They had done it, they had managed to get through the hellish experience that was Loki Odinson's autopsy. They were glad for all of about a second before they remembered that they needed to take Loki upstairs and reunite him with his absolutely heartbroken older brother.
" Hey Bruce, how about you take a break while me and Clint get Loki dressed?" Tony said kindly.
Bruce sent Tony and Clint an appreciative look before he nodded, tiredly shuffling off towards the corner of the room towards the garbage bin where he quickly shed the bloodstained surgical gloves and apron and tossed them in the bin. It was a liberating feeling, but not by much. He made his way back across the room and collapsed in a nearby chair, scrubbing at his face and letting his exhaustion from so many hours of tending to Loki's horrendous injuries wash over him.
Clint went and shed his protective gear too before heading off to find Loki some clothes, while Tony changed into a fresh pair of gloves and searching the cabinets until he found a bottle of baby shampoo and got to work gently and carefully washing Loki's hair of any blood and dirt that still lingered.
Clint came back a few minutes later, carrying clothes in his arms which he set down on a nearby table. From what Bruce could see, Clint had found Loki a plain, Forrest green t-shirt that was maybe a couple sizes too big, black sweatpants, and a pair of simple white socks. Bruce met Clint's gaze and they both shared a crooked, tiny smile, hoping Thor would be ok with them keeping with the overall color scheme for Loki. They didn't even know what Loki's actual preferred colors were. Hopefully Thor wouldn't smash them with his hammer if they got it wrong.
Tony winced a little as foamy, slightly red tinted water swirled down the drain. He continued to carefully work his fingers through the long strands of hair, hoping to get whatever had been used to grease it all up off as well. That spiked porcupine look was most likely an aesthetic choice of the Chitauri rather than Loki. Tony worked his fingers through to the very ends a few times before giving the long locks a final, thorough wash.
Tony then activated the drying hood to halfway over Loki to dry out his hair quickly, leaving it clean, and falling in soft waves around his head and shoulders like a halo. It left the prince looking absolutely nothing like the evil, insane would-be subjugator they had all fought against.
Now he just looked pale, and so painfully young it made something in even Tony's heart lurch a little.
Once Tony tossed his own protective gear into the trash, he and Clint got to work getting Loki dressed. The socks went on first, covering up Loki's brutalized, bandaged feet. When they were on, the socks looked misshapen, but there really wasn't much else they could do about it. The sweatpants came next, Tony and Clint each taking a leg before working together to lift Loki's sheet covered hips and get the pants up the rest of the way. With the pants on, Tony pulled the sheet away and tossed it onto a nearby table while Clint stepped forward with the t-shirt.
While Tony and Clint worked together once again to carefully get the T-shirt onto Loki without wrecking the stitches to his head or the large bandages on his back, Bruce got up and wheeled out a gurney from the storage room that was attached to the exam room. Bruce rolled the gurney over till it was beside the exam table.
Tony, Bruce, and Clint all stood around the exam table and gazed down at Loki, the too large shirt making him appear even more fragile and young. They then looked up at each other. It was time to head upstairs.
Tony looked up and spoke with a sigh.
" Jarvis, tell them we are on our way up." He said somberly.
" Understood sir." Jarvis replied quietly.
Ten minutes later, up in the Penthouse...
Thor stood silent before the doors of the elevator, his face seemingly make of stone and his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. Steve stood on one side of his and Natasha on the other in silent support. They had received word from Jarvis that the autopsy was finally over, that Tony, Bruce, and Clint would be arriving with Loki presently. Now here they were, all waiting in front of the elevator, Steve and Natasha wondering and worrying about what Thor's reaction would be.
Yes, Loki was nice and cleaned up, but he was still gone.
Before Steve could dwell on things further, the soft chime of the elevator alerted the him and his two fellow Avengers that their teammates had finally arrived with their precious charge. It felt like a life-age passed before the doors of the elevator finally slid open to reveal a bone-weary looking Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, and Clint Barton standing on the other side with a gurney covered in a pure white sheet held between them.
Without even thinking, Steve's hand reached out and gripped Thor's shoulder tightly, both his and the Asgardian's eyes never leaving the sheet covered gurney, and the outline of the unmoving body that it held.
Thor stood frozen where he was, his blue eyes wide and his jaw clenched against the primal scream that wanted to burst out of him. Outside the tower, the already dark skies began to churn further as a harsh, howling wind picked up and buffeted the entire city, causing many who had ventured outside in the aftermath of the battle with the Chitauri to scramble back to shelter.
There was a beat of silence where nobody moved, then Bruce, Tony, and Clint started pushing the gurney out of the elevator, the sound of the wheels against the floor too loud against the charged silence. Once they were fully out of the elevator, they gently turned the gurney so that it was perpendicular to Thor. Tony and Clint stepped away, Clint immediately going to Natasha and Tony standing next to Steve and Thor.
Bruce looked at Thor with concern in his dark eyes, wondering if they would all have to deal with Thor going into a blind, all consuming rage.
Taking a deep breath, Bruce carefully gripped the sheet and gently lifted it up and down, away from Loki's upper half, revealing him to Thor and the others.
The moment Thor's eyes fell on his brothers pale blue and bruised face, he slowly walked forward, his feet dragging across the floor as if he were sinking into the concrete until he was standing over Loki. There was another moment of awful silence, Thor's face having morphed into a look of muted horror. Then with a trembling hand, Thor leaned down and gently placed his hand over the center of Loki's unmoving chest. The coolness of Loki's empty body seemed into Thor's palm, and seemed to spread throughout his entire body. Thor clenched his jaw hard, his teeth grinding together painfully.
He made not a sound, and just stared at his brother's face. They say that when someone had left this world, their face took on a serene expression. Whoever said this was a goddamn liar. Loki didn't look like he was asleep, he looked beat six ways to hell and dead. With his other trembling hand, Thor reached out and tenderly cupped the crown of Loki's head, his large hand standing out starkly against Loki's soft, raven black hair.
Tony cautiously stepped forward and swallowed lightly before he forced himself to speak.
" Thor?" He asked quietly, waiting to see how Thor would respond.
Thor slowly turned his head to look at Tony, everyone seeing that his deep blue eyes were shining bright with unshed tears.
" I... I have a guest room here in the penthouse, you can take Loki there. Jarvis will keep the room cool for him and you can..." Tony trailed off for a second, feeling his own throat close up with emotion for a moment before he fought it back and continued.
" You can take care of him and have some privacy." He said quietly.
Thor let out a shaky breath through his nostrils before he gave Tony a stiff, jerky nod. His eyes started to brim further, but the tears still would not fall as he turned his full attention back to his little brother. Without making a sound, Thor leaned down and carefully pulled the white sheet away from the rest of his brother's body before he tucked his arms under Loki's prone form.
Steve watched on, his own eyes starting to burn as he watched Thor handle his brother with infinite care and gentleness, lifting him up from the gurney and into his arms.
Finally carrying him, carrying his brother.
Seeing Loki now, with his terrible wounds stitched up and his skin cleaned of blood, Steve could see the intricate pattern of lined that decorated Loki's face, these ceremonial looking markings that accented his features. It made Steve want to get his sketch book and capture everything. It made him yearn to know what they would have looked like had Loki been living, it made him want to know why his form had changed from a normal looking, pale human being to blue skin and red eyes. It made him wonder what vibrant shade of blue Loki's skin would have been, and whether those red eyes would have put the brightest rubies to shame.
It made him yearn to know the real Loki yet again. Something that could never happen now.
Thor held Loki close, tucking his raven haired head under his chin. One of Loki's slack, thin arms slid free and hung limp, the bandages around his hands, especially his missing pinky standing out starkly.
From where she stood, Natasha's view was a bit obscured, Thor having his back to her. She could still see Loki's feet though, and immediately notices how the socks sank in certain places unnaturally, indicating that what should have been there was not. It sent a thrill of fresh horror through her, but true to her nature she did not let it show on her face. Instead she simply turned to Clint and sent him a knowing look, the archer averting his gaze and giving her a barely perceptible nod. The two agents of SHIELD stood close and observed with respectful silence, knowing that when Fury got here, they would be in for an even more nightmarish experience when they would get to see the complete work up of Loki's autopsy and all that he had been put through.
Thor held Loki close, feeling his heart crack when he perceived just how much lighter his always lithe brother was. Letting out a slow hiss of breath, Thor turned his head to Tony and finally spoke.
" Please show me to your guest room Man of Iron." Thor said softly, brokenly.
" Y-Yeah, it's right this way." Tony said as he gestured for Thor to follow him down the hallway opposite to the one that led to the master bedroom.
Tony led the way down the hall with Thor following after him, while the rest of the team brought up the rear at a distance. It was a silent, somber procession. Tony led them all down the hallway and them came to stop at a shining metal door with a panel of opaque frosted glass on the right, Jarvis wordlessly unlocking it for them.
Tony pushed the door open and then held up his hand to Thor, silently asking for him to wait before he quickly ducked into the room. Thor and the other stepped closer and peered inside the room, watching as Tony made his way to the pristinely made bed and pulled back the soft gray comforter and white sheets.
The view from the windows showed the stormy gray skies that swirled over New York.
It was a wordless gesture of kindness that had several pairs of eyes gazing appreciatively at the billionaire inventor. Tony ducked his head a moment, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the looks, he had a reputation for being a playboy jerk after all. It made him feel a little exposed, but he quickly shoved all of that aside and gestured for Thor to finally come in.
This wasn't about him and his comfort, it was about taking care of a teammate who was going through an unimaginable and totally unexpected tragedy.
With his lips trembling, Thor carefully eased his way into the guest room with Loki, holding his brother close as he slowly made his way towards the waiting bed. The tears finally started to spill down Thor's cheeks as he leaned a knee onto the incredibly soft bed and lowered his brother onto the center of the mattress with infinite care. Thor gently straightened Loki's legs out and folded his arms so that he hands were folded over his chest before he and Tony pulled the sheets and comforter up to cover him, Thor tucking it under Loki's hands. Thor then went about tenderly combing his fingers through his brother's hair, tucking it under Loki's head and making sure it all fell around his shoulders and framed his face rather than fanning out all over the pillow.
When he was done fixing Loki's hair, Thor wearily sat down over the edge of the bed beside Loki and bowed his head, more tears spilling down and carving rivers over his cheeks as he gazed down at Loki in devastation. Tony wordlessly stepped away and headed out of the room to join the others who were still standing out in the hallway. He had just gotten a few steps before a large hand gripped him by the shoulder and pulled him back and around. The next thing Tony knew he was being engulfed in a tight hug that squeezed the oxygen from his lungs.
" You have my eternal thanks Man of Iron." Thor said quietly against Tony's shoulder.
Tony blinked his eyes rapidly and pursed his lips as he reached up and awkwardly patted Thor on the back, not really used to such gestures of affection.
"Don't mention it buddy. We weren't gonna let you go through this alone." Tony assured.
With a shudder and a nod, Thor gave Tony a final squeeze before he turned to the rest of the team.
" I do not know how I can even begin to thank you all for your kindness." Thor said shakily, with fresh tears coming to his eyes.
Seeing this finally pushed Steve over the edge. To hell with keeping their distance. Steve strode into the room with purpose, the others following suit. They surrounded Thor, offering him their comfort and support. Thor hugged Bruce, thanking him for conducting the autopsy. When Clint came forward, the archer looked pale and a little shaky himself, his eyes lingering on the still, dark haired figure laying on the bed a few feet away before he turned to Thor.
" Are the clothes okay? We uh... We didn't know if green was okay or not and-" Clint began to say when Thor reached out and gripped his shoulder gently, shaking his head and giving the Archer a crooked, heartbroken smile as he spoke.
" Green is... Green w-was his favorite color. When my brother fell into the void, he was wearing green and gold armor. I suppose the Chitauri just... decided to keep him looking familiar to me, make me think it was actually him... Make me think the worst of Loki." Thor said quietly, his voice trailing off.
Clint felt his own throat close up, glad that they hadn't offended Thor, but chilled at the mention of the Chitauri and how they had twisted Loki's image of himself. Clint reached up and held Thor's shoulder in return, giving it a squeeze before he nodded and stepped back.
Natasha stepped forward, Thor taking her diminutive hand between his two giants ones and pressing several kisses to it, thanking her for keeping him company when Steve had gone to take his shower. It had been a welcome distraction from his devastation. The Black Widow did not crumble, it wasn't her nature. Her eyes did soften and grown a little brighter than normal as she reached out and cupped Thor's damp cheek with her other hand, quietly assuring him that when Director Fury inevitably showed up here and demanded answers, none of them would allow him to come near this room without Thor's express permission.
Thor leaned into Natasha's hand and nodded, sending her a grateful look.
Steve had broken away from the group to go and get a chair from the other side of the room, placing it by the bed with his blue eyes lingering on Loki, feeling that strange sense of utter loss wash over him again. When he turned to rejoin the others, he found Thor already standing there before him, a look of gratitude across his tear reddened face.
" Your kindness knows no end it would seem Steve Rogers." Thor said before he pulled Steve into a crushing hug as well.
Steve returned it, feeling comforted himself.
" I know that when you went downstairs it was not just to bathe, that you went to give to Bruce, Tony, and Clint assistance regarding my brother. I am certain that whatever you needed to help with was not pleasant." Thor said quietly into Steve's ear.
Steve took a deep breath through his nostril before he nodded and spoke into Thor's ear.
" It was really bad." Was all Steve could bring himself to say.
Thor tightened his hold around Steve, the super soldier doing the same before they finally withdrew from each other.
" If you need anything, just say the word." Steve said before he sent one last, lingering look at Loki over his shoulder and then rejoined the rest of the Avengers.
The others made similar assurances, Jarvis chiming in as well, before they finally took their leave of Thor. It was more than past time for Thor to have some time with Loki and mourn in private. Once they were all out in the hallway, an exhausted looking Tony pulled the door to the guest room shut with a soft click. Feeling the full weight of everything that had happened today, the absolutely drained Avengers all shuffled back up the hallway towards the kitchen area to at least sit down and just breathe for a bit.
They all knew that this ordeal was far from over, that they still had explaining everything to Fury to look forward too along with Thor's unimaginable grief.
Back inside the guest room, Thor slowly turned and for the longest time he just stared at Loki. Then with a soft sniffle, Thor made his way back over to the bed and sat down over the edge, leaning down and reaching out to gently cup one of Loki's gaunt cheeks. With his eyes welling and his heart shattering, Thor leaned in and pressed his lips to his brother's cold forehead. Thor then withdrew and let out a shuddering breath before he sat up and turned his gaze up towards the ceiling as he spoke.
" Heimdall, all-seeing Heimdall, no doubt you have seen the truth that has been revealed today. No doubt you have seen the true state my brother was in, what the Chitauri did to him and the care given to him by the warriors of Midgard. Tell the All-Father and the All-Mother that their sons have been reunited, but there is no joy, only despair. Tell them that Loki is innocent, tell them he had no part in the horrid invasion that took place here, that he had no such wicked machinations of subjugating Midgard. Tell father all that the Chitauri did, do not spare him the details. Let him know how wrong he was about his second son, but please spare our mother, I beg you. Tell our parents that I shall bring my brother home and... and build his boat with mine own hands to send him to Valhala."
Thor let out another rattling breath, his entire face crumbling as the tears finally gushed out of his without reserve.
" I am shattered Heimdall, I shall never heal from this."
A low gut-wrenching sob tore itself from Thor's throat. With long, drawn out keen of pain, Thor collapsed over his brother, his blond head coming to rest over Loki's shoulder as he finally dissolved into the full despair that gripped him. Thor lay beside his brother and wrapped his arms around him, much like they had done when they were children. He started to cry without shame, steadily growing louder and louder until he was all but howling.
Outside, the horrid gray skies over New York City finally cracked open unleashing a great deluge of rain over everything, seemingly blanketing the battered city in Thor's despair.
Meanwhile, up through the branches of Yggdrasil, in the Realm Eternal, a figure clad in gold armor and a horned helmet stood watch at the end of the broken Bifrost bridge. Heimdall, the Gatekeeper Asgard.
The tall warrior gazed out at the nebulous skies before him with his glowing orange eyes, the roar of the waterfalls below the broken bridge being the only sound. Then with a low rumble, Heimdall averted his gaze and bowed his head. He was all-seeing, and he had indeed seen everything that had transpired down in Midgard. From "Loki" appearing and causing chaos, to Thor arriving after the Allfather had expended a great amount of dark energy to transport the Thunderer to Midgard to retrieve his wayward younger sibling and the tesseract, to the chaotic battle in which the warriors of Midgard had banded together with Thor and fought back the Chitauri invaders.
Most importantly, he had seen the truth about Loki, from when he collapsed along side the Chitauri, to his "puppet master" revealing himself to the Avengers, to the horrendous state of Loki's body during the autopsy.
In his minds eye, Heimdall kept seeing the state of Loki's back, the ghastly word that had been mercilessly carved into his pale flesh, along with that cleaving blow to his head that had killed him, and how Steve Rogers had pulled the metal fragment out of Loki's brain, needing to use nearly all of his superhuman strength to do so.
He had seen it all, and his stomach was still rolling. Swallowing thickly and needed a moment to compose himself, Heimdall took a deep breath and looked back down to Midgard, where he observed the Crown Prince of Asgard as he wept bitterly over his little brother's body. Taking in another deep breath, Heimdall spoke to Thor who could not hear him.
" As you command, my Prince." Was all he said.
Heimdall then looked down at the great sword he held in his hands. He slowly twisted the sword clockwise to activate its teleportation magic to get him to the palace many miles away.
He could not dwell on the horrors he had born witness to regarding Loki, and what the Chitauri had done to him. He had been given orders by the Crown Prince to bring this grave news to the King and Queen of Asgard, but more importantly a worried father and mother still unaware that they had lost their youngest for a second time.