A/N: Huge thank yous to Abandon-Morality, Lenny, Guest, kakirovich, My-chan (sorry about all the heart-breaking), DaiKuro-chan, oOo, ClintBarton-Loki'sButtWarmer, Guest, THORKISUPPORT, EvilConcubine and thegriffin88 for your reviews, they really made me feel fuzzy x). Anyway, this chapter is almost all dialogue, which I'm not too happy with, but I guess it's necessary. I hope you enjoy:

It was Cap of all people who found Loki.

He was sitting in one of Stark Tower's several kitchens – losing a game of poker against Natasha while Bruce spectated and Tony tried his hand at cooking – when they were surprised to see Thor enter. The God of Thunder had not left his brother's side for a moment since he had first been struck down by Thanos.

'Needed some fresh air, did you?' said Tony, who had switched off the live security feed to the medical bay just before the argument had broken out, deciding he needed to draw a line somewhere with the whole invasion of privacy thing – and besides, ninety per cent of Thor and Loki's interactions were just silences anyway

'Loki asked me to leave,' said Thor heavily, taking a seat.

'You guys fight?' said Bruce.

'Yes,' Thor admitted reluctantly, 'I said something…unforgivable to him. Something terrible.'

'Want me to go up and keep an eye on him?' said Natasha sceptically.

'I'm afraid he would find your company abrasive. He made it clear to me that he wishes to be alone for a while.'

'Well, everyone needs some alone time every now and then. What's that supposed to be?' she added as she noticed Tony taking something out of the oven.

'Dinner,' said Stark as he unveiled the fruits of his labour – a pizza crust topped with caviar and lobster. 'Look at that. Total masterpiece. Where the hell's Clint? He needs to see this.'

'Mr Barton is currently in the m – '

'Never mind, I've stopped caring. Tell him dinner's getting cold and I've been looking everywhere for him.'

They ate as a group. Clint came in but just poured himself a stiff drink from the whiskey bar and then left again, saying he wasn't hungry. He seemed preoccupied. Natasha's eyes followed him and she seemed to have a sudden misgiving, a frown crossing her face, but she shrugged it off. Thor was clearly guilt-ridden and unhappy, so they tried to cheer him up with distractions, and carried on playing poker.

Finally Steve needed to piss, and excused himself. He wasn't completely sure what prompted him to check on Loki on the way to the bathroom. Perhaps he wanted to make sure the God of Mischief wasn't causing trouble, or perhaps – in hindsight – it was gut instinct telling him that something was wrong. He entered the medical bay to find blood on the wall and Loki lying motionless on the floor.

'Loki?'

Shock and suspicion were quickly replaced by horror as he rushed over, already fearing the worst. Please don't be dead, Thor would lose his mind…He turned Loki over and immediately regretted it. Loki's dark hair was sticky and matted with blood, and his face was streaked with red – every scab had re-opened and begun to bleed afresh, plus new cuts and bruises. Loki was conscious but dazed, his eyes open but unfocused, their lights gone out. Steve swore under his breath.

'Shit…Jarvis, get everyone up here now.'

'Right away, sir.'

He checked the trickster for a pulse and was relieved to find one. He didn't trust himself to carry Loki to the bed without hurting him further, so just manoeuvred him into the recovery position to wait. Who did this to him? Thor was the last person in the medical bay, but he would never in a million years do this to his brother.

He predicted that Thor's reaction was not going to pretty, so the instant the God of Thunder burst in, Steve immediately raised a hand and said placatingly "He's okay, he's breathing". Thor's only response was to shove him aside.

'Brother? What happened? Who has hurt you?'

Loki was unresisting and lifeless. The crust of blood on his lips cracked as he finally spoke.

'…Where were you?' His tone wasn't accusing or bitter – just quiet, tired and utterly defeated.

'I'm so sorry.' Thor carefully stroked Loki's bloody hair away from his face, wincing as the black strands stuck to the cuts and bruises. 'I'm so, so sorry. I'm here now. I'm here.'

'Jarvis, what the hell happened?' Tony demanded.

'Unfortunately I'm not at liberty to say, sir.'

'What do you mean?'

'It would appear some of my files were deleted by an unknown party.'

'Recover them.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Loki, look at me.' Thor very gently clasped his brother's shoulders. Beneath the tenderness and care was suppressed rage. 'Who did this to you? Tell me.'

'…Nobody. I did it.'

'What do you mean? Loki, if someone did this to you, you need not hide it. You can tell me.'

'I did it myself. There were voices…in my head. They wouldn't leave me alone. So I tried to make them go away.'

Unable to bear it any longer, and fighting back tears, Thor pulled his brother into a hug which Loki did not return. The trickster's head rested limply against Thor's broad shoulder. My fault. Because of me. Because I called him a traitor. He tried to save me from Thanos when he couldn't even save himself, and still I called him a traitor. My own brother. Thor realised Agent Barton was standing silently behind him.

'He needed me,' was all Thor could say. 'I should've been with him when the nightmares came, but he was alone. This would never have happened if I had been here to comfort him.'

Clint didn't reply.

'He's lying,' said Agent Romanoff abruptly, and everyone looked at her, even Loki. She was standing with her arms folded. 'Last time we checked, he could barely get out of bed, and all of a sudden he had the strength to beat himself to a pulp?'

'Adrenaline rush?' Steve suggested. 'Or he could've overplayed his weakness, and been stronger than he was letting on. Sorry, Thor, you have to look at it from every angle.'

'What, so he was saving his strength specifically for this?'

'Nightmares, panic attacks – sometimes they make you lash out. I don't see any reason to disbelieve him.'

'I have managed to recover the files, sir. It seems the interference came from S.H.I.E.L.D. I can now tell you that Mr Laufeyson was assaulted by Agent Barton.'

For one second, there was deathly silence. If not for the fact that he was cradling Loki in his arms, Thor would've killed the archer on the spot. As it was, by the time had put Loki down and risen to his feet, Mjölnir in hand, the others were already restraining him. His roar of fury made them all flinch.

'Thor, take it easy!'

'What did you do to my brother? What coward preys on the defenceless?'

'And what were you doing that was so important you couldn't come to your precious brother's rescue?' Barton sniped back.

The words were like a sledgehammer blow to Thor, and it showed in his face. Simultaneously, he was seized with horror as he realised that he had been standing just outside the door at the time of the attack – had heard Loki being smothered. If he had only opened it…

'I'll kill you!'

'Thor, you can't,' said Natasha bluntly, 'Not after everything we've been through together. Clint's one of us.'

'He is no ally of mine!' Thor snarled.

At that moment Banner punched Barton in the face, sending him stumbling a few steps. The doctor's skin had a greenish tinge to it. Nobody dared move. Clint spat blood from his lip.

'I had orders,' he said finally. 'Straight from Fury. I was to bring Loki in and make it look like he had run off. I wasn't planning on killing him. If I was, he'd be dead.'

'You might be dead in a minute.' Tony grabbed Clint by the shirt. 'This guy's practically an invalid, and you want him carted off to a cell somewhere so he can be interrogated?'

'Orders are orders,' said Clint stubbornly.

'What about you?' Stark released Clint and turned an accusatory look to Natasha, 'You and your boyfriend are joined at the hip. Did you know about this?'

Romanoff hesitated.

'They did ask me. They said it was necessary that this situation be dealt with quietly. I refused because I don't quite hate Loki enough.' A little guilt showed through her cool façade. 'I didn't think they would approach Clint. I guess I was arrogant and thought I was the best person for the job, and if I wouldn't do it, who would?'

Loki closed his eyes, exhausted.

'Thor, Loki needs help now. Will you let me look after him?' said Banner, his green hue subsiding.

'No.'

'Then let me help, at least.'

'No. I can't trust any of you. I thought you were my friends. I will take Loki and leave. Don't try to follow us or I will kill you.'

'Thor, wait. We're on your side,' said Bruce.

'But are you on Loki's side? Look at him! He was almost killed!'

'Thor, Loki is my patient. I blame myself as much as you for leaving him unattended. Right now, he needs professional medical attention. You can't take care of him yourself and you know it. Come on, buddy, we can work this out.'

'Hang on,' Steve broke in, 'You want Loki to stay here with S.H.I.E.L.D. after him? He needs to be as far away as possible right now.'

'Stark Tower is defensible,' said Tony simply, 'If they want to kidnap my house-guest, they can feel free to come knocking. But they're taking Loki over my dead body. That's a promise. I am going to have words with Fury. Clint, get the hell out of this building before I take a leaf out of Loki's book and send you out the window.'

Barton walked out – and after an indecisive moment and an apologetic glance at the others, Natasha followed him.

'Well,' said Steve into the silence, 'Gonna be a cosy weekend, just the four of us and Loki…'

'Alright,' said Thor finally, 'I'll stay here until my brother is sufficiently recovered, or else until my father makes it possible for us to return to Asgard. But nobody comes near him except myself and Banner. Understood? Nobody.'

They answered with nods. Loki was moved to another gurney, and Doctor Banner took charge as they set about treating him.

'Hey,' said Tony quietly. Loki's eyes moved to him without a word, expressionless. 'You know what that is?' Tony pointed to the red panic button beside the bed. 'It's an alarm. Press it in an emergency and we'll hear. Okay?' He thought Loki would not respond, but Loki gave a single nod.

'Move back, please, Tony,' said Bruce.

Stark obeyed.

'Jeez, what a mess,' he sighed to himself, then set about cleaning up the blood.