I hope this chapter hasnt ended up too long; I was going to split it but it just didnt work; there were some paragraphs that just had to be in the same chapter as each other! :3 will be posting the next chapter now too so this note can go for the next one as well! :3 hope you enjoy and again, thankyou!x

Thor gripped Mjolnir tightly in his hand as Loki advanced towards him, all of the anger that had been present in his confrontation with Tony gone from his expression. Thor hated this. How Loki could still react emotionally when he spoke to Tony Stark, a man whom he cared nothing for, but when faced with his own brother, he was reverted back to stone. It was as if Thanos had deliberately sought to sever every emotional nerve that Loki had tied to Thor alone; a move that he surely knew was a veiled attack on himself, through the unorthodox means of his brothers mind. Emotional warfare. Thanos was a clever one.

Loki stopped before Thor, keeping his distance, his cold eyes fixating on him detachedly. "You truly are proving to be a thorn in my side. Everywhere I go, you appear. It makes my objective of exterminating you a fraction more curious." Thor fought to suppress the sadness he felt from manifesting in his face. "Tell me.." he began finally, attempting to keep his voice as steady as he could. "Why is it that you feel compelled to pursue such a goal? Why is it that you seek to end me, personally?" Loki blinked in surprise, a tinge of perplexion staining his blank face. "I.. seek the destruction of all of you.." he muttered, almost clumsily. "You are but one that seems to be.." he trailed off, frowning as his mindset clashed with the reality that he simply did not know why he seemed to be focusing on this particular Avenger alone.

The Avenger who was a mystery to him; the only one that he seemed to feel an unknown sense of connection with, despite being the one with whom he was the most distanced. Thor's heart jumped slightly as he registered the sudden confusion on Loki's face; the first time he had seen any kind of full expression upon it since Asgard. Swallowing hard, he moved to capitalize upon this obvious chink in his brothers armour. Hope rose within him. "What?" Thor spoke, injecting such a strength into his voice that he even shocked himself. "What do I seem to be? Familiar?" he took a dominating step towards Loki, who looked at him with a hint of alarm in his eyes, stepping further back in retaliation. Thor stopped abruptly, seeing his brothers obvious desire to be as far from him as possible. He felt the ache in his heart, but was suddenly overcome by a proposition from his mind.

Something in him is reactive, otherwise he would not object to contact so vigorously. Perhaps forcing it upon him is the key…Thor allowed this idea to sink in, as he continued to look at Loki, failing to keep the affection from his face. A feat to which Loki was not blind. "Why do you look at me like that?" he snapped, the vacant expression in his demeanor beginning to trickle away. He was becoming… irritated? He did not understand how this was so. A ghost of a smile played upon Thor's mouth. "I think you know" he said lightly, holding Loki's gaze with a quiet confidence. Loki stared at him in mystification, before shaking his head impatiently. "You speak in obscurities." He turned around elegantly, breaking eye contact with Thor to look at Tony and Steve again for the first time. He noted the look of self satisfied knowing on Tony's face, as the mortal flicked his eyes between himself and Thor. It was a look of superiority that Loki did not like at all.

Stopping before them, and with Thor's gaze ever present on his back, he bent and lowered himself onto his haunches until he was at their eye level. He glared directly into Tony's almond eyes, boring into them with his own icy blue ones. "You; man of iron. Before, you spoke as if you held all of the knowledge of the realms in the palms of your hands. Surely, then, you can concede to elaborate more clearly on that which this persistent warrior seems to be unable to communicate. Before I slay you once and for all." Yeah… I got most of that…thought Tony exasperatedly. He couldn't be bothered with such an over dramatic hold-up. He wasn't feeling in the best of ways; what with having been strangled, thrown onto the floor and almost skewered by an invincible deity, and so was not in the mood to be accepting of Thor's choice to play mysterious.

He would later probably feel regret for the apparent bluntness and insensitivity of the action he was about to take, but he simply did not have the patience to wait around for Thor to do it himself. Which, for all he knew, may even outspan his lifetime, knowing the time these gods seemed to take with things. It wasn't like they were running out any time soon. Tony propped himself up, mustering all of his bravado as he vented his frustration. "Christ, you are far too long winded for your own good. It is ridiculous. Both of you." Loki cocked his head in bewilderment, before turning it around for a brief moment to glance suspiciously at Thor; who was glaring at Tony, an eyebrow slightly raised in irritation. Loki returned his attention to Tony, reaching out his hand and grasping the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer as he threatened, danger ringing in his voice.

"Tell me, or I will end you." Behind him, Thor gripped his hammer tighter, but restrained himself. Now was not yet the time to be interfering. Tony looked as calmly as he could into the mesmeric features of Loki's face, smirking in defiance, before allowing himself to laugh in amusement, a feat that he did not know how he achieved. "Oh you are precious, you really are. It is a sad day when you're trying to wean information out of me instead of just going to the source, especially when its right behind you. I mean granted, it's a bit like getting blood out of a stone there; buggered when you want to get a straight answer but.." Thor continued to glare at Tony, unamused, as Loki cut in; "Oh that I would, but I seek to know all that youevoke; for you advertise such knowledge so freely. You made reference to a family of mine. A sibling of mine. As far as I have known, I have no such ties. I wish to see your words authorized before me. And from that I can tell, you seem to be in a better position to offer it than this strange pursuer. He who merely looks at me with burdened eyes and with such familiarity that I do not-" "Oh for gods sake, why cant you see that the answer is staring you right in the face? For being known as a cunning trickster who has lived for millennia, I really would have thought you'd be more intuitive than this" sighed Tony disbelievingly.

Loki glared at him in anger, as Thor balked behind him, seeing the decision in Tony's eyes before he spoke. "Lets do the calculation then, Kojack. Our buddy Thor here; he has natural powers. So do you. He is a God. Guess what? You are a God too. Hes wearing fancy prancy battle armour. Do you see any of us wearing that? No. But you're wearing the same kind. Guess what that means? You are both from the same place. Which is not here. Neither of you are wearing them now, but he has a helmet, you have a helmet. Ridiculous looking helmets that you can just magic out of nowhere. It kinda defies all my logic, but I'm not here to judge. Guess what they are a mark of where you come from? Royalty. He has one, you have one. Deduction? You are both royals. He looks at you in a way you don't understand, and you don't know how, but you feel that he is familiar to you. I mention you have a family; that you have a sibling; and that you are a princeand you react spectacularly. Being a royal normally consists of being in a family; a very tight knit one at that. Here are all the pieces of the puzzle, cherub, put them together and what have you got? Your 'strange pursuer' here, is your bloody brother. B-R-O-T-H-E-R. Finally someone says it outright. Didn't think I'd have to spell it out for you."

Loki gaped at Tony in confoundment, before he removed his hand from his shirt and straightened up, lowering his gaze in fervent disbelief. "I fail to see-" Loki began, before Tony interjected in irritation, the last of his tolerance draining from him. "Look there is nothing more to explain here, Einstein. He's your brother. The God of Thunder; Avenger; summoner of lightning; and your nemesis who you wanna kill; is the Edgar to your Edmund. And that means that as well as fighting your ass, he's also no doubt shared a crib with you, been read bedtime stories with you, fought over toys with you, had baths with you, got into trouble with you.. And no doubt been told to take your hand before going anywhere dangerous with you.." Tony noted the look of discomfiture on Thor's face as he hurriedly continued. "I've heard that's a bad gig that older brothers get landed with… Anyway you catch my drift. And as you can guess, you two are truly fucked up. You have a seriously complicated thing going on here. One that has brought a LOT of destruction and death to this planet. And its gotta stop. You want to know more? Speak to him. I'm out."

Tony gestured to Thor with a flick of his hand before hardening his jaw, as he continued to look Loki in the eye unwaveringly. Loki mulled over Tony's speech, his mind furiously battling with the information he had just received. He felt himself begin to reject Tony's words; convince himself that they were the words of a fool and nothing more. Yet something in him burned with the idea that these words were indeed truth. He grinded his teeth together, seeking for a release from the perplexed state of his mind. Feeling the anger at Tony rise up inside him, he made to move away, causing Tony to relax, before suddenly whipping himself around wrathfully, hitting Tony directly in the face with the corner of his spear and sending him flying backwards. "LOKI!" Thor bellowed from behind him, making his way towards him with anger returning to his eyes. "Liars and killers. As I am, so you are" growled Loki in denunciation, as he turned his sceptre towards Thor.

"You know within you that what Stark said was truth. Please do not start this-" Thor's plea was never completed, for it was cut off by a blast of energy from Loki's sceptre, that sent him rocketing across the room, crashing through the glass pane doors on the other side and out into the grounds. Loki had no other words or reactions to make; despite what he had been told, the block in his mind was a relentless one, and was already doing its best to mask the new onslaught of truth that had attempted to break through it. His slots of near remembrance were clearly limited ones. He advanced towards Thor, who had begun to pull himself up from the ground; with a methodical, and lethal, look in his eye. Thor could see that meaningless words were not going to be enough to get through to him. Glancing over at Tony, who lay with Steve by his side, he knew that the best way to help his friends, was to leave this place. Draw Loki away from them, and get him one on one; for their business was theirs; and the thought of any more suffering from the outlets of he and Loki's battles brought a chill into his bones. He closed his eyes steadily, preparing to utilise Mjolnir, which still remained glued to his right hand. As soon as Loki was close enough, preparing his next blast, Thor lunged forward from his position on the ground, grabbing him around the middle. As soon as he had a hold on him, Thor began to whir Mjolnir vigorously, until he shot up like a rocket into the sky, with Loki in tow.

The thunder rolled in the sky above, as the two Gods spiralled through the air, crashing into a dark, muddy field, not far from where they had come. Detangling himself from the mass of limbs that was himself and Loki, Thor pulled himself up, wiping the dirt from his face with his forearm, and began to climb the embankments of the crater he and Loki had created upon their impact. They had levelled out a good few square meters of land. As he reached the top, he turned to look down, where Loki had also gotten to his feet and was looking up at him, his sceptre still in hand. They glared at each other for a split moment, before Loki rapidly sent another blast of energy hurtling Thor's way. Ducking swiftly, Thor managed to avoid it, as he continued to maintain a solemn look in Loki's direction. "I have had enough of this!" he bellowed desperately, his voice husky with exhaustion. "You must fight this Loki! You must remember! Or else we will never… You will never, understand, why it is that you are the way you are! You will be a walking shell for the rest of your existence! I know that is not what you want!"

Loki stared back up at him, his body flexing as he retaliated with an aggressive leap in Thor's direction, followed by another discharge, which Thor blocked with a swing of his hammer. Ducking and diving to avoid the stabs of Loki's spear, Thor frantically tried to formulate a plan. He did not want to fight his brother, indeed he never had, but as always, his hand was forced, and so he counteracted Loki's attacks when they came, moving in largely defensive positions. After the fifth block, his rage and exasperation getting the better of him, Thor ended the battles' regality; charging forth with the power of a steam engine, as he roughly tackled Loki to the ground. Fighting against Loki's writhing resistance and dangerous, efficiently-aimed cuffs, he finally managed to pin him down with his knees, wrenching the spear out of his hand. His breathing loud and haggard with fatigue, he summoned his hammer, placing it on Loki's torso to hold him in place.

Loosening his hold, he leaned forward and pulled the upper half of Loki's body towards him as far as it could go, his hands firm around the curve of his neck. It was the same gesture he had greeted his brother with many times, in a variety of circumstances. Bringing Loki's face to within a few inches of his own, he stared intensely into his misted eyes, reaching deep beyond as if to pull out his brothers memories single-handedly. Desperate to see some sort of emotional reaction on Loki's face to show he was still real, he began to speak breathlessly. "I am not going to hold you here. I will remove the hammer shortly, and you will be free to do as you wish. I do not seek to entrap you against your will again. It is everything that you would have despised." Loki looked back, the monotonous expression still covering his face. Thor inhaled deeply, as he strengthened his hold on Loki's neck, failing to keep his desperation at bay as he began to implore his brother in his last resort.

"Listen well. You are Loki; God of Mischief, Prince of Asgard and brother of mine. We have lived through the ages of this world. Together. Our mother and father are Odin the Allfather and Frigga, the king and queen of Asgard. Odin kept a secret from you, from me, our whole lives. And when you uncovered it, you were lost to us, descending down the path of darkness that has led you here. You hated him, hated me, hated yourself. Your anger gave you strength to commit such terrible deeds. You let it destroy you. And I was not there to stop it when I should have been. But all that happened in the past means nought now, for all I have been fighting for all this time is to bring you home, to have my brother returned to me. For you were my brother then, as you are still now, and will always be, until I draw my last breath. I have known your anger, your rage, your torment. I have seen it in your eyes, but now, I see nothing. You chose to wipe it away rather than to face it. You believed you were the only one who suffered. You were not. Your pain was my pain, and I felt it every moment of each day, as I still do now. Yet I have to stay strong. I have to keep fighting; or else we shall both be lost. I must appear to be well, or else I will never be able to face the trials I must. It does not mean that you no longer affect me. I need you to look inside yourself, brother, and find that part of you that has been taken away. It will cause you pain, but you will be real once again. Not this mindless servant that Thanos has fashioned out of you." Loki felt his eyes begin to sting against his will. He did not understand what was happening to him. He struggled vainly in an attempt to free himself from this emotional plea, but Thor held him fast, lowering his voice to almost a whisper. "I made you a promise. A long time ago. And I will die before I let myself ignore it again." He smiled weakly, affection shining in his eyes. "You were never gone from me, brother. You never will be. You are lost. And I will find you and bring you back. Even if it hurts you so much that you want to scream. You asked for nothing less."

With those words, it was as if the keys had been provided to unlock the gates to Loki's soul; as if those few words were the antidote to the poison of ignorance that had veiled his mind for what seemed like a lifetime. Loki convulsed violently as a millennia of memories hacked and slashed their way back into his being. His father, his mother, his brother, his people, the warriors, the Jotuns, the realms, the Midgardians; they all flashed before his eyes in an blistering dance of triumph. Seeing his brother being attacked by an unseen force from within, caused Thor to relinquish his grip upon him, his heart thudding as he realised what must be happening. As Thor let him go, Loki dropped backwards to the ground once more, as his entire life returned to him in a relentless siege of knowledge.

Thor clamoured back onto his shaky legs, removing his hammer from Loki and standing well back, anxiety gripping him as he watched his brother continue to twitch upon the ground. He had received the memories; next came their emotions. The happiness, the fun, the fear, the jealousy, the annoyance, the resentment, the rage, the betrayal, the self loathing, the desperation, the pain, the denial, the torment, the love; they all flooded into him, as he felt his spirit writhe into a ball of agony, not knowing what he felt, his emotions now so strong and yet so confused, that he did not know how to react. And when the barrage finished and Loki was left motionless on the floor, he could feel the pain seep its way back into him, as if it had never left. He felt himself become fully reimbursed in all that he was, and all that he had made himself to be. The mischievous child, the loyal brother, the obedient son, the steady prince, and then the rejected bastard, the barbarous monster, the lying traitor, the enraged outcast and the murderous tyrant.

These were all names for how he saw himself; the labels that he had created to blot out the reality that he felt so lost; that in his anguish he had alienated himself so greatly from every realm, and from every race, that he did not have a clue where he was really supposed to belong. He was a brother, and yet he was not a brother. He was a prince, and yet he was not a prince. He was of Asgard, yet he was not of Asgard. He was Odin's son, Laufey's son, and yet he was no one's son. He was a deranged villain, and yet he was impeded by love. He had so many conflicting emotions that they had truly driven him… insane. He understood that now.

At last, with his reality shifting back into place, as if he were a ghost that had been reunited with its body, Loki pulled himself up as steadily as he could to his feet. Thor held his breath as he looked at his brother. Loki still looked down, seeing his sceptre on the ground, which he bent to pick up slowly, examining it in his hands. Once he had, he turned his head upwards slowly, where his eyes met Thor's, as he pointed it towards him in threat. Thor looked back in anticipation, wondering if his plea had worked, wondering if Loki's mind had been restored. He soon got his answer, as he saw the pain begin to fill up behind his glassy eyes. Thor felt a ripple of relief course through him, as he saw his brother look at him with all the hatred and anguish that he had not seen him exhibit for so long. He had never thought he would miss it. Granted, it was not a look he would have truly wanted, like happiness or affection, but it was better than nothing.

It was as much as Loki was able to exalt. Realising the pain that must have returned to him, Thor began to speak. "Brother, I am sorry. This is hard, I know, but you were foolish to wipe away who you are. You had a right to kn-" Thor was cut off in his tracks as Loki interrupted him, anger clinging to the fringes of his words. "Thor" he seethed heatedly; that one word containing so much more emotion behind it than any number of others could ever have hoped to attain. Thor continued to hold his gaze firmly, before dropping his hammer on the ground before him and raising his hands. "I see your rage renewed. We have done this for too long, brother. It must end. I will not fight you. You deserve to have your vengeance. I was a selfish fool to have tried to deny you that. Slay me as you will. Right here. Right now. I will not stop you. Fulfil your desire and then I will impede you no longer." A twinge of shock gripped Loki's face as he mulled over Thor's action; his eyes filling up in torment and frustration. He took a step towards him, sceptre in hand, as he prepared to fire.

Thor held his gaze, preparing himself for the blast that he would not move to avoid. But it did not come. For what Thor witnessed was entirely different; the same lack of conviction that had always been in Loki was apparently still evident. For just like in the previous instances when he had made attempts on Thor's life, Loki could not follow through with his ambition. He held the spear in his hand, but rather than fire and end Thor once and for all, Loki allowed his anger and frustration to possess him, as he instead tossed it down onto the dirty ground of the field before him, sending it rolling until it collided with Mjolnir a few metres away. Thor did not have time to fully register what had just occurred; for in the next moment, Loki had leaped forward unexpectedly; screaming out in rage, as he tackled him to the ground. Possessed with fury, Loki proceeded to send his fists flying into violent punches that crunched with every bit of Thor's face that they could find. Wrestling with each other as two mortals would; no weapons or powers used between them; Thor and Loki rolled, punching and kicking, as the thunder and lightning roared in the sky, sending rain cascading down upon them as they fought, the ground turning into a bog of sticky mud underneath them as it coated their bodies in filth.