I'm very sorry for the super late update. I just have been super busy, dealing with school and then other fics. Hope you guys like this chapter! Please R&R.

Everlasting and lengthy it seems is the scenery set out before them. Thor travels with Jane in the Midgardian apparatus that he has newly learned has a name, car. An odd word he had vaguely pondered.

The long, black, stretched out path takes them in between valleys of mountains, through canyons of blood red, and it only seems to emphasize to Thor how far away his brother really is from him. The realization makes his heart ache with such longing that it astounds him. Brother…

"Thor—are you alright?" He chastises himself internally as he puts on a big, worry free smile he hopes will make her vexation ease.

"Oh yes—I was just lost in the strange beauty of this world. You truly do not understand how granted you are." He means it to some extent. Midgard is no Asgard, but in comparison, it carries its own to the golden realm.

Jane gives him a look that highly reminds him of Sif and he has to repress a laugh at the similarity. She snorts loudly, disbelieving, as she says, "Oh please—from what I've heard about Asgard, Earth must be a slum compared to the golden city in the sky."

Thor shakes his head. "No, Midgard has a special beauty, a land with such different people, different climates, it is as if Midgard is one world with multiple in itself. Truly fascinating it is." Jane stares at him with mild curiosity, he can see in her eyes interest peeking for his knowledge, for the universes. In the past, he gingerly remembers explaining to her that if she took him to the compound that held Mjolnir captive, he would tell her everything her eager, beautiful mind wished to know.

"I have to ask," Thor is not surprised. "Thor, why is Loki on Earth? And why are you searching for him?" He immediately stiffens. This is not what he had been expecting. Out of all the questions, she could have asked, regarding the Bifrost, or the nine worlds, she chooses his brother.

Thor is slightly self-conscious about what Jane thinks of Loki, even more so, what she thinks about his main purpose for being on Midgard. He cares about her opinion of him, Thor doesn't want to seem foolish in her eyes, like his father when he had presented the idea of searching for Loki. However, it hadn't been long ago that Loki wreaked havoc and tried to kill her friends, along with his, probably causing more emotional trauma than physical for both parties at the end.

"You must think me strange, searching for someone who attempted to kill—who has killed me," He frowns at the memory. "Nonetheless, he is my brother, a prince of Asgard, and my friend who I would not—."

"Thor, oh gosh, that's not what I meant. That must have sounded terribly rude." She shakes her head frantically back and forth; her delicate, petite hand reaches out to pat sympathetically at his bicep.

"What I meant to say was after he tried to kill you and your friends, what would make you think he would want to be found, that he would want to see you?" Thor knows that she is not intentionally trying to sound harsh, but the words prickle at his eyes, making them water with the thought. He turns his head to the window, thankful that his hair covers his face from her view, his gaze lands on particularly nothing as the desert passes by in blurs.

"I had not thought of that possibility." He says solemnly. He hadn't thought about it at all.

Jane is considerably quite for a length of the car ride, noticing that the topic she breeched did more than hit a nerve. When Thor and Jane do finally speak again, the green-eyed god of mischief is not mentioned once in their conversations as they talk about insignificant, trivial things; but he is positively present in the back of both their thoughts.

Rays of blinding, radiant warmth assault his eyes as they unenthusiastically crack open for the dawn of a new day.

Loki groans into his black, soft cotton pillows, tempted just to automatically tint the windows and go back to sleep for another hour, maybe forever. He decides not to as he marginally notices that the sun usually is just cresting over the horizon when he wakes for the day.

He lightly startles from the bed, as he looks around, confused at why he slept in so late. Why didn't he wake? Why didn't Tony wake him? He vaguely speculates that he could be dead and Tony wouldn't realizes until three days later at best. He's usually always gone, busy with work as Tony says, which is funny to Loki because the last thing that Tony Stark seems to do is work.

Irony strikes him as he comprehends that despite living with Tony and being his friend, he doesn't know much about him. Loki knows the things that everyone else knows, what the magazines tell them. He knows that Tony considers alcohol as a food group, knows that Tony is somewhat obsessed with the music group AC/DC, and on a personal note, knows that regardless of the amount of fame he has achieved he doesn't like it all that much. This is what he knows about Tony Stark, and for some reason he is fine with knowing this little. He is not one to pry.

The rumbling of his stomach gives him enough incentive to get up and get something to eat, though not before pulling on a t-shirt. As he descends the spiral staircase, he hears muffled laughing and hushed tones of talk. Loki cranes his head slightly, hoping to get a peak of the person who is here to see Tony so early in the morning.

He surprisingly finds out that there are two people, one much bigger than the other, their backs turned so they don't see him immediately. Loki observes them as he leans craftily against the steel railing, arms crossed over his chest. The blond one sits at the bar counter telling Tony something, maybe arguing with him. The brunette stands back, letting the two bump heads without interference.

"Am I interrupting?" Finally making his presences known, Loki comes down the rest of the steps. The two eyes follow him intently, and it somewhat unnerves him, though he sure doesn't show it as he walks down with grace.

"Damn it! And we were trying to keep quite too!" Tony says, shaking his head in a 'tsk tsk' kind of way. "Sorry 'bout that," He winces. "I know you don't sleep well at night." Loki just smiles at him; though in the corner of his eye he watches the blond and the brunette watching him with even more vigor.

A snarky remark is on the tip of Loki's tongue, but before he can say it Tony clears his throat quite awkwardly, sensing the tension in the room, and straightens his jacket blazer with a tug.

"Loki, this is Steve Rogers and Clint Barton, they are uh—co-workers of mine. I don't quite know if I can call them friends, Steve's to much of a prune to do anything I want to do and Clint—" Tony gives the rigid man a once over, "Well is Clint—I'm pretty sure he isn't even human."

The one name Steve gets out of his chair as he makes his way over to Loki, their eyes never leave one another's for a second. Steve extends a hand and Loki wraps his long, slender fingers around it, giving Steve's hand a quick harsh squeeze.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Rogers." Fictitious courtesy oozes from Loki's pores as he gives a smile that reminds Steve of a shark. Steve gulps as he nods. "Likewise."

Loki is the one to release his hand as he makes his way over to Clint Barton who looks at him with barely kept contempt. "Mr. Barton." Loki extends his hand as Clint scrutinizes it with cool eyes, extending his own, giving Loki a firm shake, then releasing. For some reason Loki likes him, likes that he doesn't try to pretend or please.

"So where you two here for business, or…"

Steve is the one to speak up. "Yes, we had to talk to Tony about a—business trip that we all have to take soon, that he should be prepared for it."

Loki's eyebrow tilts up as he thinks that they could have called or sent an email to do this but doesn't voice that certain thought. Instead, he goes in for the more superficial, obvious thing to ask.

"Oh, wow that's pretty cool. Know where you guys are going?" He walks easily into the kitchen, taking out milk, eggs, and bacon from the fridge.

Steve shrugs. "It's pretty much wherever the boss wants us to be."

Loki nods his head in mock understanding, not caring in the least bit about their travel plans. "What do you guys do anyway? Tony's all into computers, is that what you do too?" Loki knows from the look of them that they don't, but he's curious about what these they do, about what they need to travel for.

Steve and Tony suddenly look uncomfortable when the question pops up. Clint does a better job of sub-doing his unease, but Loki can still see the tense shift of feet from the corner of his eye.

He laughs lightly, taking out cinnamon, salt, and sugar from the cupboard overhead. "Oh gosh, don't tell me it's one of those jobs where you're not allowed to say anything about it. How boring." He pouts animatedly.

"Sorry to say it is." Steve says.

Loki smiles at the realization that he now knows something about what Tony, Steve, and Clint do, even if it's little.

"Well I know we would all love to stay and chat, but that job, as a pain in the ass as it is, does require our presence." Tony inquires, patting Steve on the back, leading him towards the door.

"Pleasure to meet you both." Loki says as he ties an apron around his neck.

"Likewise," Steve mutters again and Clint just nods at him.

As they finally exit, Loki wears the biggest grin as he prepares his breakfast. He all of a sudden has the faintest urge to pry.