Note:
Since I'm in the middle of my vacation I plan on doing a heck of a lot of writing and since I'm ahead and almost through with chapter 7 I figured I'd upload 2 chapters tonight. Then I'll continue to upload the next chapter on Wednesday or Thursday if all goes well.
Chapter 4:
And Leave Me Here To Bleed
It had been three days since the incident at Las Vegas and for three days Loki had been kept in a chemically induced coma in the basement of Stark's California mansion. Thor fought the notion but he was outvoted by the rest of the team.
"Just be glad I didn't turn him in!" Was the final word in the argument before Tony stormed out of the basement, which barely looked like one, it was a pretty sterile basement where Tony kept and organized past projects and some other trinkets he had not finished for various reasons. Of course, due to the current circumstances he had everything in the basement moved to Stark Tower. As soon as the team had walked in Steve objected to having what he called "a dangerous maniacal villain bent on blowing them all up" dragged into their living quarters. After almost two hours of arguing, hurtful words were exchanged, mainly between Thor and Tony, they came to the conclusion that it was best if they just looked after Loki only until he was recovered and after that he would be returned to Asgard to continue his sentence. They sincerely wanted no part of SHIELD involved.
Tony had one of the beds from one of the guest rooms brought down to the basement while Bruce and Hank were sent to gather the necessary equipment to treat the wounds. "Nothing fancy. This asshole is not a friend and we don't owe him anything. Just tape him up and let him recover." Those were Tony's very words but somehow part of the group sensed he was contradicting himself. Why would Tony bother bringing in a villain who had just attempted to murder Thor in cold blood into his mansion? Why would Tony even bother letting said villain recuperate when he could easily send the Asgardian god back to Asgard and be done with it?
That very afternoon Tony drank himself into a drunken stupor and disappeared into his room for the rest of the night. The rest of the team carried on, mostly calmly due to the fact that Loki had been chemically induced into a coma so there was no chance of him suddenly waking up and going on a rampage and they were all well aware of the fact that Thor had no idea how to awaken his brother. Thor remained at his side for three days barely leaving the basement.
"Why do think Tony brought him back here? I can understand Thor demanding it, I mean; it is his brother after all." Jan broke the awkward silence as she sipped some orange juice. Her, Hank, Bruce and Clint were in the huge kitchen mostly just sitting idly by. Thor had refused to leave his brother's side and Tony was still skulking around his room, quite possibly indulging in insane amounts of alcohol to lower his obvious stress and anger.
"I think…and this is by far the wildest thing that has crossed my mind, that Tony feels guilty." Hank observed almost unsure. He knew why he said it but there was a voice in his head second guessing him.
"Guilty?! Tony Stark feeling guilty? Are you nuts?" Clint immediately intervened clearly not seeing eye to eye with Hank's opinion.
"Think about it; look at his behavior ever since they came back from Vegas not to mention that both you and Bruce warned him to test the beam before taking it out on the field. He didn't test it and it malfunctioned and not to mention severely injured Thor's brother. Well, he couldn't possibly care for Thor's brother but it could have just as easily been one of us or if he had been pushed in a different angle he could have hit Thor or a civilian. Let's just all be grateful it was just him and he managed to survive otherwise we'd all be neck deep in god of thunder fury. Besides, even if his brother hadn't survived Tony is not a murderer. He knows it was just dumb luck this situation didn't escalade to apocalyptic proportions."
The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Still, Tony was taking it rather harshly and even if he would not openly admit it he was feeling guilty. Somewhere around 10:00 and 10:30 at night Tony got out of his bed and walked down to the basement. He was unsure of what he was to say if he found Thor there. When he reached the basement he could clearly see through the glass wall Thor was indeed sitting next to his brother. He swallowed hard, breathed in and sighed as he punched in the code to enter.
As the door hissed open Thor looked in the direction and closed his eyes and placed his sight back on his sleeping brother. Tony slowly began to walk towards the bed. He looked at Loki and then up at Thor who looked more upset than angry which to Tony was a bit of relief. An awkward silence fell between the two; it was so tense you could practically cut it with a knife.
"I don't blame you for what happened, Tony." Thor finally said ending the awkward silence. He looked up at Tony and a small smile appeared on his face and even if it helped the tense situation it was still a sad smile and Tony felt no better.
"I am so sorry, Thor, I should have tested the beam. Clint and Bruce were right. I let my anger blind me."
Blinding anger. That was something Thor could easily identify with since he himself had a very short temper and was prone to act upon it. He did mean what he said; he was not blaming Tony for all that happened and he certainly was not going to hold a grudge against his friend. Thor gently rose from the bed and walked up to Tony and gently hugged him and in turn Tony returned the hug.
"I want to thank you for looking after him and not just turning him over to SHIELD." Thor mumbled with a bigger smile on his face and no tension.
"It was the least I could do. Besides, if he's a huge asshole," Tony giggled as he pointed to Loki, "Those guys are even bigger assholes. At least your brother has the courtesy to just go ahead and be straight forward with what he wants but with SHIELD you never know what is happening or will happen."
"I agree."
"Listen, T'Challa sent me a package, it should arrive tomorrow. As soon as it gets here I will wake your brother up. We need to take some more x-rays anyways."
"Why is the arrival of the package so important?" Thor asked genuinely curious.
"Do you remember a while back that you let T'Challa study your "magic"?" Thor nodded obviously remembering and finding it amusing that Tony was still keen on not seeing magic as a logical explanation for certain phenomena.
"Well, baby brother over yonder is, said by you, to be the most powerful sorcerer in all "the nine realms" and even if he is physically unable to kick our asses he can still "Skyrim" us into fine dust without so much as even blinking. So, T'Challa was kind enough to bring us something of a chip to restrain him."
Thor kind of flinched at the word "restrain" but he had to admit that letting Loki loose and about without some control over his movements was a very bad idea indeed.
"Oh and I'm also fixing the door with a code so only we can open the door on either side. For the love of all the good in this world, do not give him the code. He'll be fine down here, good temperature, comfortable bed, full working bathroom complete with a shower over in that corner and yes, we will feed him. It'll be like having a puppy. A very maniacal, rabid, crazy puppy and you can come down here and play with him."
Thor chuckled at the comparison and made his way back to the bed to keep an eye on his brother but Tony held him back by one arm and said, "You've barely eaten or slept well in three days. Go upstairs and get something to eat, shower and rest. I'll keep an eye on him for you. Trust me, I won't harm him. I may just end up putting his hand in warm water so he can piss himself."
Thor burst out laughing, it was common knowledge that everyone in the mansion was prone to pulling pranks on each other and one of the earlier pranks done to Thor was having his hand placed in a bucket of warm water while he was asleep only to awaken to a soaked bed and sheets and a room full of giggling superheroes. It was harmless.
Thor placed a hand on one of Tony's shoulders in agreement and returned to the mansion's upper levels. He was indeed very hungry and very much in need of a shower not to mention sleep. He was sure to sleep well that night and was sure Tony would keep his promise of watching his brother for him.
As Thor left Tony turned around and looked at Loki. It was odd to see him just sleeping so calmly. He had not interacted with him much safe for that one time but it was odd to see him not screaming, hitting people, killing people or summoning aliens to take over the world. Tony shrugged and sat on the floor, it was cold but not so much that he could not bear it, besides, he preferred enduring the cold floor because he was not going to sit on the same bed that Loki was sleeping in.
He looked up and saw the mangled left hand crudely wrapped in bandages and a spark of guilt he tried so hard to suppress washed over him. He remembered telling Bruce and Hank to get some medical supplies from the medical room to patch him up. Hank suggested a cast due to the severity of the hand's condition but in his anger Tony refused to give Loki actual and proper care. His hand was not going to heal properly, not with how it was currently bandaged. He figured that after the results of the x-rays he would actually and properly tend to the wounds and place an actual cast. Tony was also concerned with the broken clavicle. Skurge's ax drove deep into Loki's shoulder and split the left side of the clavicle in half. His shoulder was also crudely bandaged but Tony would see to fixing it tomorrow.
A loud and alarming scream escaped Loki's mouth as he quickly sat up. His eyes were wide, pupils diluted and a cold sweat dampened his face and neck. He saw people in front of him and as sudden as he opened his eyes he closed them as he groaned loudly and with his right hand he grabbed his head and clenched his fingers around his hair. He could hear people talking but he could not really make heads or tails of anything being said, everything sounded like an echo that was too far away to properly understand, he could barely see as well, everything was blurry. He saw oddly shaped shades of colors blurring in front of him and suddenly a very bright light in front of his eyes.
"He's a little dizzy but that's common. Uh, Jan, hand me two of the migraine pills and that cup of water." Hank ordered as he lifted a small flashlight to Loki's eyes checking his pupils.
"What's his name?"
"Loki." Thor corrected.
"Loki, can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?" Hank asked as he held three fingers near Loki's face but Loki was still unable to focus or clearly see. Loki blinked a few times and gave out a soft groan as he closed his eyes and literally fell forward but Hank caught him and placed him back on the bed.
About an hour later Jan waved a smelling salt right under Loki's nose and after some twitching he finally fluttered his eyelids and slowly opened his eyes. He came to and saw Thor on his right side and several people he did not know and some he recognized surrounding him. He looked around and noticed he was in a bed in some strange place. He felt worry rising in the back of his head but did not ask, he could only really focus on the headache he had. It was immense and it felt as if someone had stuck a blade into his skull and left it there. Loki tried to move but he seemed to have a rather difficult time getting any sort of reaction from his left arm so he turned to look and saw some bandages on his left arm. He tried moving his arm but it was not responding, in fact, he was sure he could not even feel it. Hank loomed in over him and in both hands held what looked to be small cups.
"I suggest you take these because the headache you have, which, I can only imagine is pretty bad, won't go away on its own."
Loki stared at the man in silence as he studied his face searching to see if he was in danger or actually being helped. The headache was unlike anything he had ever felt before but he was not about to ingest anything he did not know. After several minutes he looked at the cup and then back up at Hank and slightly shook his head denying the pills. Hank lowered the cups but Thor grabbed the one containing the pills and looked down at Loki with a concerned look on his face.
"You have to take this. It will ease some of the pain."
"Thor, he's not a child, if he doesn't want to he doesn't have to take them." A soft female voice protested behind Thor and Loki tried to locate the source but the muscular giant in front of him blocked his view.
"Jan, the headache from a chemical coma is not anything to be taken lightly." Hank informed her as he grabbed the cups and set them on the small table beside the bed. "Anyways, Loki, you're going to need to stand and walk some distance. We need to check how your hand and shoulder are doing. Think you can stand up?"
Without hesitating Loki shifted his legs under the cover and while supporting his weight with his right hand the cover slid off his chest and he saw he was not dressed in his usual garments. He had on what mortals would wear, a plain black t-shirt that was a bit big for his frame and some dark gray track pants and on his feet a pair of white socks. He lifted an eyebrow as he carefully examined everything and his eyes widened at the sudden realization that he had not changed himself and that someone else had done so. He choked back a stutter and a burning sensation invaded his cheeks as he looked at the group and then grabbed the shirt and slightly pulled on it to examine the fabric.
Steve got the message of what was going through his head and with an uncomfortable smile he said, "Well, we weren't going to leave you in those bloody tattered clothes, you know. Just because we don't see eye to eye it doesn't mean we're going to treat you like an animal." Loki looked at Steve as he spoke, still silent but his eyes were practically screaming in what seemed to be embarrassment. Steve's smile diminished and he placed a hand behind his head trying to think of something to say. Unfortunately Jan and Clint were not exactly the type to carefully choose their words and as far as Clint was concerned he was still owed some form of revenge for having been brain washed by Loki.
"Oh, come on, man. They had to clean the wounds somehow. Besides, don't worry. Thor, Hank and Banner were the ones that changed you out of your clothes. Oh, and Banner took back what he said, you ain't puny."
As if it were not possible enough to have widened his eyes more Loki did and after some chuckling Jan planted an elbow right into Clint's ribs. Loki narrowed his eyes and remembered he had been told he needed to walk somewhere so he stood up and took one step only to wobble and fall over. Thor and Steve rushed over to pick him up and the most cynical smile washed over Clint's face and with that he turned around and headed to the elevator to open it. Thor whispered something in Loki's ear and the group followed them to the elevator except for Jan and Steve who remained behind.
After the elevator doors clicked and they were sure they were alone Steve turned his gaze to Jan who grabbed a box and walked to the bathroom. She turned on the lights and began to dig out some things out of the box, bottle of shampoo, soap, toothbrush, tooth paste, two towels and other common house hold items found in bathrooms.
"Do you think this is safe?" Jan questioned as she tidied up the bathroom that had been clearly not used in what she could guess was months. "You know, nursing a supervillian god back to health."
"I don't know how to answer that. Can I be honest with you?" The look of conflict within Steve's face garnered Jan's full attention. She nodded and waited for what was troubling Steve. "Don't tell anyone, especially Thor. I have this almost sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach like, something's not right. You know, with him."
"…I'm not sure I'm following you…" Jan confessed.
"If this guy is so bent on killing Thor then why the heck did he save his life. Bruce told me everything that happened—I—I just don't know what to make of all this."
"What do you think it means? Has Thor mentioned anything?"
"No. No, even Tony said he was confused as to why Loki pushed Thor out of the way when he saw Skurge was going to maim Thor. Loki vowed to kill Thor. I thought he was up to something but when Clint asked Thor the same thing Thor said that even at his most depraved Loki would never endanger himself. He would have rather lost than to so much as get a scratch."
Jan and Steve remained silent. The words tossed themselves around Jan's head and even as he repeated them Steve also analyzed the last three days. He was not sure how he felt, on one hand he remembered all the chaos Loki had created about a year ago and now he saw as Bruce contemplated the circumstances of how Loki came to be in their basement. Steve was not what you would call a pessimist but even he had to admit he was guilty of thinking maybe Loki had intentionally gotten himself injured just to get close to Thor. Close enough to maybe come through with the promise of slaying his own brother.
"Whatever's goin' on with him, at least I'm grateful that he saved Thor's life." Jan stated as she smiled at Steve, most likely to ease his restless mind. They carried on with the given chores. Jan fixed the bathroom and Steve changed the bed sheets. He figured they were due to be thrown away because there was dry blood on it and as much as he or anyone would try the dry blood was not going to come out.
"Tsk, well, your hand is healing, slowly but your shoulder will take longer. Much longer." Tony informed as he placed the x-ray sheets above their heads and against the ceiling light. Loki looked at the sheet and then back at Tony. He had never seen an x-ray before but he was able to piece the situation together, slightly anyways. He saw the broken clavicle and the shattered hand and thought how easy it would have been to just use his magic to cure it almost instantly and as if Tony was reading his mind he looked at the man as he listened.
"Now, Thor tells me that you can use magic and healing this would be a piece of cake for you but I regret to inform you that your hocus pocus will remain disabled to protect us." Tony walked over and grabbed Loki's right hand, at the notion Loki jerked his hand back but Tony raised both hands in the air and added, "Okay, fine, on the back of your neck you'll feel a small circular device. Go ahead, check for yourself." Loki moved his hand to the back of his neck and could feel a cold metallic item attached to his skin. His eyes narrowed, not in a hostile manner but in a confused way. He looked at Thor who lowered his gaze almost in shame and then sighed as he closed his eyes.
"You'll pay dearly for that..." Loki thought as he felt the metal object.
"Technically speaking your magic is not disabled. You can still access it. Hell, you could even turn me into a ferret or Thor into a frog but that little party favor on your neck will register the energy and it will send two hundred million volts of electricity through your body and in case you're thinking "consequences be damned" that's enough to knock you out unconscious. Or make your heart explode. Not sure which one would come first. Messing with it will also trigger the device to go off." Tony walked to the other table and Bruce approached him with some scissors to cut away the bandages. They figured a cast could help with the hand but the shoulder did not require any surgery and honestly speaking none of them, safe for Thor, was about to rush to a hospital to treat a supervillian.
Bruce unwrapped Loki's hand and as he laid eyes on it he quietly gasped at the sight of it. His hand was partially deformed, some of it was burned and the bruising took most of his hand. Loki could swear it was a darker shade of blue and it rattled him and made him sick in his stomach. Tony looked at Loki and turned his gaze away momentarily, a clear sign of guilt.
Bruce proceeded to place the cast on Loki but for a brief few minutes he needed Loki to try and lift his arm. He warned him it was going to hurt but Hank suggested some acetaminophen but again Loki refused shaking his head slowly. Thor tried to convince him but it was no use. Loki slowly raised his arm but as he did so he felt a massive amount of sharp pain shooting across his shoulder and back. He began to breathe rapidly and in a ragged fashion indicating he was clearly in pain. Loki grabbed his shirt and bit down on his bottom lip and squinted his eyes and groaned very loudly. Bruce tried to go as fast as he could but he also wanted the cast to be placed on well. After what seemed like an eternity Bruce then lowered his arm but the sharp burning pain was still present.
Tony came back with a small bottle that rattled when he moved it in front of Loki. He looked at the bottle and then up at Tony to see what he had to say about that item in particular. Bruce continued to work on the cast and Thor came closer to hear what Tony was going to say.
"All right, junior, these are acetaminophen pills. They will make the pain go away but you can only take one every twelve hours. No more than that or else you risk overdosing and that could pretty much render you dead." Tony then turned to face Thor and while holding the pills up he added, "Thor, make sure he takes them." After Tony confirmed that Thor had seen the bottle of pills and knew the directions he turned once again to face Loki and continued, "This will help numb the pain. If going by Thor and a serious injury of his can heal in half the time I would take to heal you should be fully recovered in about a month and a half."
Loki nodded silently still refusing to talk. He grabbed the pills from Tony and as he did they brushed their fingers together and Tony felt Loki's hand shaking. Tony looked at him with confusion. In a surprising move Tony placed his palm over Loki's forehead to check for something. He was not burning with a fever and he did not feel cold. Tony blinked a few times and turned to Clint to most likely give him some orders. Tony sported a serious look on his face and as he spoke Clint rolled his eyes in an obvious display of annoyance. Finally, Clint gave in and with a puff turned on his heels and walked away glaring at Loki.
Bruce finally finished the cast and replacing the bandages on Loki's shoulder and while throwing away the old bloodied ones he said in a gentle tone, "Don't get the cast wet at all. When you go to sleep just try your best not to move around a lot. We'll remove the cast as soon as your hand is healed. Okay?"
Loki again nodded silently and followed Thor and Hank as they escorted him back to the basement. Bruce continued to clean up and as the door closed behind Hank Tony turned to Bruce and idly said, "He's cooperating for the time being. Think it'll last?"
Bruce was slowly calculating his words trying his best to choose the correct thing to say but the circumstances they all found themselves in were anything but common. Eventually he sighed as he stood up and looked at Tony, a clear look of concern in his eyes. "I could go the obvious way and say that he will because he's wounded and, metaphorically speaking, tied down. However, I'd also be going against my gut instincts if I said we shouldn't prepare ourselves for the worst."
"I sent Clint to get some tranquilizers. I trust the device but if push comes to shove we might have to do something drastic in case the device or tranqs should fail." Tony turned around and slowly walked away but before walking out of the room he added, "Whether Thor likes it or not."
