A/N: Sorry I took so long to update. Unfortunately, school has a higher priority than fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I don't own Thor

Chapter 4

Loki sat behind a large wooden desk in the corner of the palace library, his eyes intent on the old tome in front of him. He had spent most of his time in the studious, quiet library during the past week, intently researching in hopes of finding information about the illness afflicting the Asgardian people.

His work space was littered with old scrolls and thick books, and to his side sat a sheaf of notes he had made to aid in his search. On another smaller table to the side sat a plate and cup, with the remains of his last meal left upon the surface.

Often, when involved in a particularly fascinating or important research project, Loki neglected to attend meals regularly and only got small snippets of sleep. It was not that Loki did not want to eat and sleep so much as that he simply became so engrossed in the problem at hand that he forgot to take care of himself properly.

The second prince of Asgard had a brilliant and unique mind. He absorbed information easily and was quickly able to apply what he had learned to expand and improve upon the knowledge base of Asgard.

Concepts entered his mind and flitted around, touching the knowledge inside and searching for ideas to build upon, like a hummingbird hovering before a flower briefly to gather its pollen before shooting through the air to stop by another blossom. The hummingbird spreads the pollen from one flower to the next, allowing the pollen to fertilize and change the flower into a fruit that then proceeds to fall to the ground, leaving the seeds behind to germinate and grow into an entirely new plant. In the same way, ideas jumped around in his mind and connected his knowledge together, combining and growing into new ideas for him to explore.

During the past week, Loki had applied his intellect to the challenge at hand, hoping to fulfill Eir's expectations regarding finding a cure. He had eaten little and slept less, but he had made progress towards understanding the disease that was spreading through the realm.

First of all, he had analyzed the symptoms of the illness. The first hint that an Asgardian had the disease was a rash that appeared on the arms of the afflicted individual. The rash did not cause much physical discomfort, but was very noticeable and was shaped in a distinctive pattern.

After about a week without any other symptoms appearing, the person would get a cough. Once the cough began the other symptoms followed more quickly. The person would start to feel a bit of a tightness in his chest and he would get a headache. At this point the person would also have a fever.

For some individuals this was as bad as the illness got. These symptoms would linger for another week or two, then would lesson and dissipate. In these cases, the Asgardian would make a complete recovery.

However, for some the illness took a much worse turn. The fever would escalate to dangerous levels and the cough would go deep into their chest. It became difficult to breathe, and some only continued doing so because of the magic and technology used by the healers to give support.

In the very worst cases the patients would have seizures. Their temperature would fluctuate between hot and cold, leaving them oscillating between an uncomfortable, sweaty lethargy and full bodied shivers. Most of the Asgardians that reached this stage did not survive the following 24 hours.

Loki had looked through countless medical texts, browsing through those written by contemporary authors conducting novel research and through old, dusty tomes that had likely not been touched for centuries. None of the books he had read so far described any illness similar to the one that had placed so many Asgardians in the healing rooms.

He had also tried to find the cause and cure of the disease by conducting tests on those who were ill. He had done blood tests with Eir, using magic to try to identify any foreign bodies that could be causing the illness, but nothing had come up. None of the normal methods, or any of the abnormal methods for that matter, for identifying bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens were yielding results that could help them to pinpoint the cause of the disease.

Loki was becoming increasingly concerned. While he knew that only a week of study was a relatively short time in terms of research, he also felt the building pressure as more Asgardians became sick. He refused to slow his search, however, and kept his weary eyes on the small script in front of him.

The morning following their ride into the forest, Thor, Sif, Hogun, and Fandral made their way to the healing rooms to see how Volstagg was doing. He was awake when they came, and seemed more aware and energetic than he had the night before.

"Hello, friends! How are you this morning?" He asked upon seeing them.

Sif answered "We are fine, it is you that we are concerned about. Do you feel any better than last night?"

"Aye, I do. I will probably not be going on any quests for the next while though" he said apologetically with a shamed glance at Thor.

"Do not concern yourself my friend. You need to focus on becoming well." Thor responded good-naturedly.

"I brought something for you," Fandral stated, and held out a pastry. "I know it is your favourite, and when they served it for breakfast this morning I could not let it pass by without pilfering some for you."

Volstagg took the pastry, saying "My thanks, Fandral, that was thoughtful of you. I will save this for later to savor it when I am feeling better." With this statement his placed the pastry on the table by his bed.

Thor and his friends exchanged a look at this. It was rare for Volstagg to refuse to eat something, and that he was doing so caused his friends to worry.

The group stayed together all morning, until Eir came and told them to leave for the afternoon to let Volstagg get some rest. Although he was feeling better, he still had a cough and fever. Thor made to protest, wanting to stay with his friend, but in the healing rooms Eir was as royalty, and was not to be denied.

For the next few days, Thor and his friends alternated between visiting Volstagg in healing rooms, and attempting to continue on with their normal activities. As a prince Thor had duties he had to attend to, and Hogun, Sif, and Fandral had their own duties as warriors of Asgard that they could not neglect.

As Eir had predicted, a notice was sent out by heralds, informing the Asgardian populace of the disease. The people were encouraged to maintain healthy hygienic habits, and to try to minimize direct contact with other people. They were also told to check themselves for rashes, and if one was spotted, to turn themselves in to the healers for treatment. Although there was no panic, as Asgardians were a strong-willed and organized people, not prone to hysterics, the people were subdued and concerned. The light-heated atmosphere of the week before had given way to worry.

As the week progressed Thor, Sif, Hogun, and Fandral were pleased to be told that Volstagg seemed only to have caught a mild version of the disease. He was still sick enough to need to be monitored in the healing rooms, but he was not in any danger of succumbing to the illness.

When Thor had gone in search of Loki, he had found his brother in his usual spot in the library. He had inquired as to what had Loki so interested that he could not spend the time to visit Volstagg, but when he received no response other than a disjointed mutter, he spared a glance at the books laid out on the desk. Upon seeing that his brother was researching healing and medicine, he realized that this must be what Eir had kept Loki behind to discuss the night Volstagg had become sick.

The fact that Eir had needed help to research the illness concerned Thor. Eir had always seemed so sure of herself in the face of any injury or illness that she had to deal with. To realize that she did not know what to do now unsettled Thor.

Leaving Loki to continue his studies, thinking with an internal smile that Loki had probably not even consciously noted his presence, Thor went to sit with Volstagg for a time.

While he was regaling Volstagg of a tale of when he had gone on his first hunt, a story he repeated many times, but never got tired of telling, he saw Hogun enter the healing rooms.

Thor rose to meet his friend. "Come join us Hogun. I was just getting to the exciting part of my story about hunting with father for the first time".

In reply, Hogun shook his head. "Unfortunately, that is not why I am here my prince." He raised his arm and showed Thor the red rash that ran across the skin.

At this Thor's excited expression became concerned. "Find a bed, I will fetch Eir".

Eir came and executed the same exam upon Hogun that she had done on Volstagg.

"So far there are no symptoms other than the rash. We will have to wait to see how severe your case is," she informed the taciturn warrior.

Thor, Sif and Fandral now divided their time between visiting Volstagg, Hogun, and conducting their daily duties. Their hope that Hogun's illness would be mild like Volstagg's was not fulfilled. When the other symptoms of the disease came they proved Hogun's case to be among the more serious of those that had occurred.

One afternoon, two days after Hogun's other symptoms had manifested themselves, Loki came to join Thor by their quiet companion's bed. He did not ask how the sick man was doing, for it quite clear by the rattling cough and pasty complexion that he was not doing well. Instead, he silently took a chair and sat with his brother, offering his support. As he sat, he watched the warrior on the bed before him. He was doing everything he could, searching every book and scroll relevant to his research and conducting various diagnostic tests, but so far he had nothing tangible he could offer to the Asgardians who were sick. He could feel the pressure mounting, and with Hogun dangerously ill he could not help but feel that he was running out of time.