This one might be a bit short but i've been having some home issues lately so you'll have to forgive me, plus im sure many of you are aware school resumed last week so im slower now :P Enjoy :D I own nothing


"Deep breaths, Loki" Thor supported his younger brother as he breathed through the dizziness and nausea that had just come over him. He'd been growing progressively weaker as time went by, without using his magic to sustain himself any more, and the toll of eating very little and suppressing the very force keeping him alive was beginning to show. There were bruise like circles beneath his eyes and they could all see him hands shaking when he wasn't consciously hiding it. Today they had finally managed to convince him that they weren't going to harm him for doing so, by swearing an oath on Thor's hammer, binding them to a magical contract. It seemed they'd underestimated how difficult it would be to help the God recover. Since he was out of practice, and indeed so fearful of the consequences of using his magic, each tiny trick had to be squeezed from him like blood from a stone. He had just been convinced to conjure a small flame in the palm of his hand, and had been rendered almost unconscious by the dizziness it caused him. Beads of sweat were now running down his face, they'd been on his brow for a while, what with the fever he'd garnered.

"That was way better than last time. Bruce thinks maybe if you relax a little more when you try and cast a spell, it'll work better, and flow easier, so this time, try and think of good memories, okay? Thor, help him, talk about good times when you were younger or something. Okay, lets go again." Steve was aware his speech was getting progressively faster, but he was admittedly pretty worried about Loki right now. He looked almost igrey/i and it reminded Steve way too much of when he found him in that back alley. His injuries were slowly healing, but he was still in pain and stuff, so their urge to protect Loki was yet to fade one bit.

Loki rolled his shoulders back, barely wincing when it tugged at his wounds. Thor was rambling on about one of their past adventures, and Loki let himself be washed away in the stream of words, seeing it vividly in his minds eye. He felt the tingle of magic reach his fingers as Thor described the spells he had cast to protect them, the Thunder God obviously having chosen a tale that would inflate his self-esteem. He felt the energy building inside him, straining to be released. He clenched his eyes, drawing deep breaths to calm himself. He felt Thor rubbing a thumb down his spine, helping him melt into relaxation. The energy could be restrained no more, or it would kill him at this stage. He had no other choice.

He let it out.

His eyes flew open as his back became ramrod straight, turning to face away from his brother and the Avengers. Bright light, white in the middle but green at the edges, pulsed from him in a beam of energy. His eyes glowed white as his fingers played, the magic flowing over his skin, lighting him up like a Christmas tree. The workshop floor he had aimed the beams at was charred and the equipment smashed, but Loki could not care. He was on fire, burning, and it felt iincredible/i. Not like the uncomfortable warmth and stickiness of before, but like he was actually feeling something besides pain for the first time in a while. He let himself smile openly, honestly, as he felt the magic soothe his wounds, knitting at least the skin back together, he thought. He let the power pour from him, streaming off in waves until he felt his control slipping back into place. He let the magic run from him for a mere moment more, before gently easing his barriers back into place, exhaustion beginning to show. He knew he would be mentally fragile and easily tired for a few days now at least, the out-pour having torn his mental shields to shreds, allowing him to feel more than he wished to. He knew this, and let himself be swallowed by the acceptance of it and the floor rushed to greet him.

Tony volunteered to take the night shift of watching Loki, waiting for him to wake up again so they knew nothing was terribly wrong. Thor told them Loki had just torn through his barriers or something like that, exhausted himself, but that didn't mean they weren't just a little bit concerned. And Tony..he'd brought his tablet into the room with him, intending to get some work done since he would be awake, but his mind was running round in circles. He couldn't get his head around the blatant display of pure ipower/i he had seen that afternoon. If he ever needed any evidence that Loki hadn't truly wanted to kill them all in Manhattan, here it was. That much power could have levelled New York if it had been intended to, focused, unlike in the lab. He shuddered at the thought.

He was broken from his awed reverie when Loki shifted, evidently breaking out of his unconsciousness. The trickster lifted a hand to his head, wincing with the headache pounding in his skull. His eyes drifted open, and he turned to the human at his side, smiling as he pressed a glowing hand to his own head to ease the discomfort he felt. It felt so good to have his magic back, and to know they would not hurt him for it.

"Thank you so very much" he stated simply as he snuggled into his pillows, intent on sleeping for another few hours.

"You're welcome" Tony muttered as he swallowed a surge of pride. Loki hadn't even whispered that time. It was definitely the loudest he'd heard the God speak since Manhattan.

They were making progress.

The next morning, Loki was up and about again, in good spirits it seemed. He made breakfast for the others, in his gratitude, although he still ate very little himself. Bruce managed to coax him into swallowing a few protein shakes, which the God took to instantly, but not much more. Clint and Natasha ate in the kitchen with them this morning, their relationship with Loki gradually improving. They'd been forced to accept earlier in the week that Loki wasn't going anywhere, and they'd better get used to him if they wanted to talk to Tony, Steve, Bruce or Thor any time soon. They'd both agreed to keep quiet about it too. Promised not to tell Fury.

But Fury always managed to find out what they wanted most to hide.


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