A/N: I didn't think I'd get this one done today - yay for happy surprises! It did get a little heavy on the Thor and Loki bonding in the middle, maybe at the expense of some Lokyrie, but I hope the beginning and end make up for that. And this is easily the longest chapter so far, too.

And Midnight (at least, I think it was you, you didn't sign your name this time), I love your scrambled reviews. And as far as them having warrior babies goes... Maybe not in this fic (or maybe I will... who knows?), but I did make these two get married in my Sims app and they currently have one kid, a baby girl named Frigga (and cause I messed up, their last name is Pegasus).

The next day, Thor still wouldn't let Loki resume magic lessons, instead leaving the more practiced civilians to help others, so he sat in on Val's fighting lesson. Her students were learning well, moving like a coordinated unit. When she challenged them one-on-one, they even almost gave her a run for her money towards the end. Loki sat back, leaning against the window with his breakfast beside him, and just watched her. Val moved with the fluid grace born of centuries of practice, hair and cape flying with her, her moves completely instinctive.

She was a terrifyingly gorgeous sight.

As lunchtime neared, Val was sweating and panting. She dipped her head to the last student to battle her. "You did well – all of you did. You are all dismissed."

Dipping their heads in return, they all turned to leave, chatting and still practicing a little as they did so. Loki moved to her side. "You're a good teacher."

Val just nodded and smiled, slowly turning away and starting to leave. She wobbled as she walked, her hand shooting out to grab the throne for support.

"Val?" Loki said, moving closer in concern. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she tried to snap. But she was panting for breath, holding her hands out in an effort to balance herself. When he tried to steady her, she jerked away from him. He half-froze, fear for her rippling through him.

"I don't think- Val!"

Without warning, she lurched to the side, her feet skidding out from under her. She slammed into the ground with a thud, too fast for Loki to ease her fall. He dropped to his knees beside her, turning her onto her back. When he reached out to brush her hair from her face, he nearly jerked back with a hiss.

"Val, you're burning up!"

"Huh," she mused. "Maybe it wasn't exertion after all."

Loki scooped her into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder, and began walking to the healing center as fast as he dared. "You should've said something."

She batted feebly at his hands. "I can walk, Lackey."

"If you even try it, I will throw you over my shoulder like a sack of grain," he threatened, having absolutely no intention to actually do so. But she must've believed him, because she stopped slapping him and fell to mumbling indignantly into his neck.

That only made him walk faster.

Once he reached the room, his gaze fell on a familiar face. "Eir!"

She turned to him stiffly, still reluctant to take orders from him. He just held Val out a little, saying in a quiet voice, "I'm not here for me."

Her gaze softened as she nodded, but her tone was all business. "Put her down there," she ordered, pointing at the nearest empty bed. Loki obeyed, easing her head down onto the pillow, and then Eir bustled in between them. "Now shoo."

Loki bit his lip but stepped back. He flinched when Eir snapped the curtain shut, recognizing the movement's sharpness for what it was: distrust. She still didn't want him here, especially not near her patients. Knowing protesting might get him kicked out of the room altogether, he stayed silent and just wedged himself into the corner to wait, head down and arms crossed.

Time dragged on. People came and went, glancing at him, probably wondering why the heir to the throne was hiding in a corner. He was tempted to glare at some of the more obvious ones, but that wouldn't exactly endear him to the people, would it? So he kept his eyes downcast, glancing up only when Eir stepped in and out of Val's area. She never acknowledged him, just grabbed supplies, murmured to the other healers, and disappeared again.

Two hours came and went without news.

"Loki?"

Loki looked up, surprised to see his brother standing there. "What are you doing here?"

Thor wrapped his arm around Loki's shoulders. "Heimdall told me. Any news?"

Loki shook his head, letting himself lean into the contact. "You know Eir won't tell me anything."

Thor sighed, the look in his remaining eye troubled. "I could order-"

"No," Loki cut him off. "They would only resent me more."

Thor pursed his lips, but nodded agreement. "One day, they will accept you as their prince again."

Loki looked up at his brother. "Do you? If you had to pass off the throne right now, would you trust me with it?"

Thor was silent for a moment, thinking over his words. "Honestly? No."

Loki looked away to hide the disappointment on his face, crossing his arms. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but to get such a flat-out refusal-

"Hey," Thor said gently, pulling Loki tighter against his side. "That answer does not mean I don't love you, or trust you with my life, because I do. But you're just resettling, just relearning how to love and be loved. Having to be the king of a people who don't trust you so soon into that process – I wouldn't want it adversely affecting you."

"It wouldn't-"

Thor tapped his neck. "It already has affected you, Loki, very severely, and you're not even king yet. I would rather have you safe and happy, albeit feeling a little scorned, than force you into an unsafe situation where you hardly have time to be yourself."

Loki slowly let his arms fall. "I suppose that's good reasoning."

Thor chuckled. "Always reluctant to admit I'm right, aren't you?"

Loki couldn't hide a grin. "Well, it's just so rare."

Playfully, Thor smacked him on the head. "Watch your tongue, brother."

"Your Highness," a solemn voice greeted.

Both brothers looked up immediately, the laughter falling from their expressions. Eir stood there, hands clasped in front of her, her sympathetic gaze focused on Thor. Loki tensed – he'd seen that expression before. The day his mother was killed.

Evidently, Thor recognized it too, because he stepped forward, placing a hand across Loki's chest that was simultaneously restraining and reassuring. "What is it?"

"It appears to be the same illness that you brought back the herb for," Eir began.

"So it's curable?" Thor checked.

"However," Eir overrode him, "it also appears to be a strain that's resistant to the herb. Her fever is rising rapidly, and we cannot stop it. If it does not go down soon, she will suffer brain damage at the least, and death at the worst."

"I can help her," Loki blurted.

He froze. Not because of Eir's scorn and Thor's confusion, but because of the information he had just volunteered. It was an ability he despised having, and had planned to never tell anyone under any circumstances – he had actually spent the years since discovering it trying to forget it completely. And here he was, blurting it out to a room full of people that would hate him for it if he could still use it.

"You cannot possibly have more powerful healing magic and knowledge than those who have already tried," Eir said dismissively.

Loki took a deep breath, looking at Thor. "It's not Asgardian magic," he admitted quietly.

Thor's eyes went wide. "I thought-"

"I don't use it," Loki said sharply. "But right now, it could save Val's life."

Thor hesitated a moment longer, then gestured at Val's bed. "Do it."

"Hold on!" Eir protested. "If he's referring to what I think he's referring to-"

Thor stepped forward, looming over the healer in all his royal glory. "The prince will either cure Valkyrie, or she will die either way. You have already admitted that your efforts have failed – I suggest you let my brother attempt to save the woman he loves."

Eir backed away from the king, lowering her head. She shot a glare at Loki as she did so, the warning in the look clear. Loki just swept past her, shoving the curtain aside and pulling up a chair. He paused for a moment upon seeing Val, horror making his heart thump faster as he took in her pallid skin and sweat-soaked skin. And she was still, so still. She almost looked like death warmed over.

"Brother," Thor murmured at his side.

Loki shook himself. "Close the curtain."

"But-" Eir started.

Thor snapped the fabric shut. After shooting him a grateful glance, Loki held his hand out in front of him and closed his eyes. He turned his thoughts inward, searching for that place he had accessed merely a handful of times before, that corner of his mind that was pitch black and ice cold and that he despised with his entire being.

For Val, he found it.

It leapt to the forefront of his mind, forcing a gasp out of him. Its iciness instantly flooded over him, turning his legs to jelly as he burst into shivers. Thor grabbed him, easing him onto the chair even as a hiss of pain escaped him.

"By the gods, Loki, you're freezing."

"Hold on," he rasped. He rounded up the chill, roping it in from the tips of his fingers to the bottom of his feet, and forced it to obey his wishes. It fought, the abrupt transition from ice cold to room temperature leaving his body raw and stinging. But he forced it all into the hand he held in front of him, leaving it in harsh contrast to the rest of his body.

When the chill finally settled where he wished, he doubled over with a groan, clutching his arm just above the wrist. Thor was still bracing him, one hand on his right shoulder and the other holding his left elbow, and he was talking, but Loki hardly registered him. Squinting with red-tinted vision, he checked on his now-blue hand – the top was blue, as was his arm along the first quarter of it, but his palm and the undersides of his fingers were their normal Asgardian white. Using most of his mental strength to keep it that way, he rested his palm on Val's fiery forehead.

Almost instantly, he felt her gradually begin to cool. The fire within her stood no chance against the strength of his Frost Giant biology. Reassured that he could follow through on his blurted promise, Loki let his eyes blink open and started processing his brother's words.

"…ki? Loki, talk to me. What's happening?"

"I can… access my Jotun abilities without the Casket," he ground out. "Which I found out…" Reluctant to explain how Thanos's goons had shoved him into a room so hot that his Frost Giant genetics had sprung forth unbidden to save him from death by heatstroke, he just finished with, "…a while ago."

Gods, Thor was like a furnace next to him.

No. No, you can't focus on that.

Thor shifted closer, taking his cape off and tucking it around Loki's shoulders. "You look like you're in agony."

Loki managed a nod. "They're powerful," he rasped. "The Jotun genetics. And they're in direct conflict with the Asgardian in me. Remember what happened to Volstagg?"

Thor nodded. "He got severe frostbite just by touching one of them for a few seconds."

"Yes, well, I won't get frostbite, but it hurts like hell."

Thor picked up Loki's free hand and rubbed some warmth into his numb fingers. "Can you keep this up long enough to lower her fever?"

Loki didn't know. He could feel her cooling, but it was gradual – it would be hours, at the very least, before her temperature would match Thor's. In the few times he had done this, he had let the cold run rampant throughout him, which had taken far less effort and been less painful. But all he told Thor was, "I have to."

Thor tightened his grip on Loki. "Is there anything I can do?"

Loki looked up at Thor, hoping his brother could see past his blood red eyes. "If I lose control, if I turn blue, get me off of Val and don't touch me."

"I'll do that," Thor promised quietly. "Anything else?"

Loki let himself slump against his brother. "I hate being this," he whispered.

Thor tucked him close. "It is who you are, and I would not have it any other way. Neither would Valkyrie." Then Thor amended, "Well, maybe don't turn into a snake to stab me again."

Despite everything, Loki laughed. And for a brief moment, the pain eased.

-MCU-

Val moaned. Everything was too warm, but she was shivering. And why was her forehead heavy and freezing?

"…should be safe now," a quiet voice said.

The heavy, cold thing was lifted from her forehead. "It's all right, Loki," she heard Thor murmur. "You've saved her. You can rest now."

Rest? Why does Loki need rest? What happened?

With no small amount of effort, she wedged her eyes open. The room slowly came into focus – the healing center. Thor's voice had come from her… left. She forced her head to tilt towards him, blinking to better focus.

Thor was sitting in a chair, cradling someone against him. That someone was hunched over, panting ragged breaths, part of his skin slowly changing from blue to white. The someone looked up at her, and she was shocked to recognize his eyes as they faded from red to blue.

"Loki?" she rasped.

He smiled weakly at her. "Hi," he managed.

And promptly passed out.

Thor checked his pulse, and someone – Eir – bustled around the bed to check on Loki. "He's just unconscious," she announced, "but he needs to be warmed up."

Val still wasn't entirely sure why she felt so warm, or why he needed to be warmed up, but she knew they would match. So she reached out with a heavy hand. "Give."

"Yes, good idea," Eir agreed. She came back around to the right side of the bed and helped Val turn onto her side, leaving room for Thor to scoop Loki up and set him down before pulling the blanket over them. The pair snuggled into each other, Loki unconsciously seeking her warmth, Val tucking Loki's icy extremities against her neck and between her arms.

Val peered up at Thor. "What happened?"

"Later," he promised. "For now, just know that he saved your life, and now you're saving his."

Saving him by snuggling with him? That's a victory strategy I can totally support.

After taking another moment to make sure Loki was secure in her grip, Val fell asleep.

A/N: I think I managed to mix a sick fic and hypothermia fic into one chapter. Two of my fave means of whumpage