"Keep an eye on things here," Loki instructed Nevaeh, his voice low.

"You're leaving already?" she complained. "You just got here."

"Elise is at home alone," said Loki. "I cannot allow her to be captured."

Nevaeh's bandana shifted when she wrinkled up her nose. "Maybe you shouldn't be with her if she can't keep your secrets."

"Is this jealousy?" Loki taunted.

Nevaeh rolled her eyes. "I'm just sayin', you could do better. You at least need a woman who won't roll over on you like that."

"Perhaps you should focus your efforts on persuading our captive rather than on persuading me, hm?" Loki replied. "Now, listen carefully. She must remain alive until you are absolutely certain that you have learned everything you can from her. Before then, you are to finish her if, and only if, it is the only means of preventing her escape. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Nevaeh confirmed. "Anything else?"

"No, that is all," said Loki, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. He then turned to Julian. "We should be going. We may be having company tonight."

Julian followed him back upstairs, still nauseated at what he had just witnessed, but surer than ever that it had to be done. "What kind of company?" he asked.

"S.H.I.E.L.D., of course. Who else?" said Loki, striding quickly toward the exit. "I only hope that that monster remains well-hidden…"

"Dr. Banner?" said Julian. "You really think he'd fight?"

"Perhaps not of his own accord," Loki replied as they neared his car, "but he is as easily led as any other beast. Now, get in. Quickly."

Just as soon as the passenger's side door latched shut, Loki stepped on the gas and peeled out of the parking lot. On the road, he drove a consistent twenty miles per hour above the speed limit, weaving in and out of lanes as he encountered other vehicles.

"Dad, slow down!" Julian protested. "We're not gonna get there any faster if we're dead!"

"What were they doing to you?" Loki asked. The question was clearly unrelated to Julian's concerns about his driving.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were to become a weapon," he clarified. "Were they successful?"

"I... I don't know," Julian answered nervously. "I took some injections, but, um…" He inhaled sharply as the car swerved. "Jesus, Dad, can you just slow down?"

"Son, just answer my question," he replied, tense. "Were they or were they not successful?"

"I don't know!"

Loki shook his head and sighed. "We shall find out soon enough."

In no time at all, they arrived home, but it appeared that they were too late. The house was ransacked, the front door hanging open, letting in thick, hot air from outside. Julian's first thought upon seeing the mess was of his mother. Where was she? His heart was racing. He feared the worst, and just imagining the terrible scenarios that could have played out filled him with rage. Struggling to calm himself, he looked to his father for comfort, but he seemed to be faring no better.

Loki, with his jaw clenched and his hands balled into tight fists at his sides, bellowed: "Show yourselves! Show yourselves, you cowards!"

Loki's shouting exacerbated Julian's stress. Again, after a short time without incident, he was transforming. This time, however, it didn't feel quite the same. The pain didn't gnaw at his lungs or prickle his skin. Instead, he just ached. It was almost bearable… almost. He felt strong, but he couldn't be sure how long it would last.

A deep voice rang out from the second floor, accompanied by the sound of thunderous footfalls on the stairs. "Loki!"

"No," Loki growled under his breath. "No, not again…"

Through the red tint slowly overtaking his field of vision, Julian saw Thor. He knew who that was, even in his delirium. Anyone would have recognized him. More importantly, though, Thor was on the move, wielding his hammer; he was going to attack Loki. Under different circumstances, Julian might not have acted, but he couldn't hesitate, not then. He lunged, letting out a mighty roar.

Thor reacted immediately, swinging his arm and his hammer with it. Mjolnir's blunt, metal face collided with Julian's forehead. Everything went white. His body felt limp and heavy, and within the space of a second, he was unconscious.

He was lying on his back when he came to. The most prominent source of light in the room was above him, shining directly into his eyes. Weakly, he raised his hand to block it out, but one of the two women standing over him corrected him, firmly but gently guiding his wrist back down to the table on which he lay.

"Be still," she instructed calmly. "Do not be alarmed."

"Yes, be calm." Her younger companion rested a warm hand on his forehead. "You will heal, but you must rest."

"What is this?" Julian groaned. His head felt as if it were full of slush, and even just moving his eyes made him motion-sick. "Is this a hospital?"

"We are healers," the first woman answered.

Julian winced and inhaled through his teeth. "What happened?"

"Do you not remember?" she asked.

"Thor hit me with his hammer," he said. The words sounded crazy as they spilled out of his mouth. "But I don't remember what happened after that. Where am I?"

"Asgard," the second healer replied. "Thor brought you here. You are safe."

"Asgard?" Julian tried to lift his head to look around, but the pain and dizziness persuaded him to lie back down. "This is a joke, isn't it?"

The younger of the two women shook her head.

"Where are my parents?" Julian demanded. "What happened to my dad?"

"We do not know where Loki has gone," said the eldest healer, "and even if we knew, we could not say."

"And my mom?" Julian asked. "Is she okay?"

"She is safe," the other woman answered. "You will see her very soon, I expect."

Julian could hear two sets of feet approaching. He rolled his slowly head to one side and rested his cheek on the cold surface of the table so that he could watch the doorway. Thor entered first, followed shortly by Elise. She was neither wearing a prisoner's uniform nor something she had borrowed from Loki; instead, she had been given a long, green dress. Her curly hair was clean and tame. She broke away from Thor and rushed toward her son.

"My poor baby!" she exclaimed, reaching out to embrace Julian. "Are you alright? How bad is it?" She brushed his hair back to get a better look at the lump on his forehead. "I can't believe he did this to you…"

"He had to be stopped," Thor interjected, standing beside her.

"He's a kid," Elise argued, placing herself between Thor and Julian. "Pick on someone your own size!"

"He is a frost giant," Thor insisted. "Do not be deceived."

"He's my son."

"He is Loki's son as well!"

"So what?"

"Stop, stop!" Julian yelled. "My head hurts. Please, stop arguing."

Thor lowered his voice to address the healers. "Leave us. This is a private matter."

"Yes, my King," they both said, nodding in unison. They then moved quickly and quietly out of the room.

"So, you're a king now?" Elise huffed. "Is that what gives you the right to go around beating up teenagers?"

"Listen to yourself, Elise," said Thor. "After all Loki has done to you…"

"Why can't you just leave us all alone?" she moaned, tugging at the crown of her hair in frustration. "It's no wonder he hates you so much."

"My brother may be lost, but my nephew is not," Thor replied, his voice loud despite the ostensibly private nature of their discussion. "I will not stand idly by while Loki leads him down the same treacherous path."

"You were trying to kill him," Julian interjected weakly.

Thor appeared puzzled. "What?"

"You know what," said Julian. "You were waiting for us."

"I was asked to intervene."

"By S.H.I. ."

"No… well, yes," Thor admitted. "But I brought you here to protect you. This was not a part of their plan."

Julian laughed quietly to himself, then recoiled as a bright pain shot through the center of his forehead. "Where is he?" he asked again. "Where's my dad?"

"Never mind that," said Thor.

"You don't know, do you?" Julian slurred, becoming increasingly delirious as he wasted his energy speaking. "He got away from you. You must be pissed."

"Were you not my kin, Julian…"

"What difference does that make?" he said. "You'd kill your own brother, so why not me?"

"Perhaps I should turn you over to S.H.I.E.L.D.," Thor threatened. "Would you prefer that?"

"Leave him alone," said Elise. "He obviously has a concussion. He needs to rest."

"I'm fine, Mom," he lied. He sat up slowly, and even the smallest movement made him dizzy, but he didn't let that stop him. "I just wanna go home."

"You will do no such thing," said Thor. "Not until Loki is stopped."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't going to stop him," Julian argued. "Don't you get it? That's why they need me."

"What are you talking about, Julian?" his mother interjected. "Are you sure your head's alright?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, "I forgot to tell you. I mean, I wasn't supposed to tell you, but I guess it doesn't really matter now. The thing with Dr. Banner, that was all a lie. They were just trying to get to me so they could use me as a science experiment."

"What?" Elise snapped.

"Yeah. That's why I'm like this, Mom," Julian said. "They tried it before when I was a baby, too, or at least that's what they said."

That revelation seemed to knock her off-balance. "Since… you were a baby?" she repeated quietly, staring past him. "Oh, my god… oh, god, Julian… I'm so sorry…"

Julian realized then that he had upset her. "No, Mom, don't be sorry," he said. "It's not your fault, it was-"

A fourth voice chimed in. "It was… kind of my fault, actually."

Julian, Elise, and Thor all turned their attention to the room's entrance. Dr. Banner was escorted by a man and a woman, each dressed in obviously-Asgardian attire.

"Fandral, Lady Sif," Thor greeted. "Thank you for finding him."

"Of course," Fandral replied quickly. "Anything for our favorite of all of Asgard's kings."

Thor laughed. "You know you needn't flatter me, Fandral."

"My King," Lady Sif said, looking sideways at Julian, "is this Loki's son?"

"He is," Thor replied.

Sif glared at him. "I hope that he is nothing like his father."

"I can hear you, you know," Julian said.

She ignored him.

"Speaking of that scoundrel," Fandral interjected, "where is he?"

Thor frowned. "Gone. He escaped."

"We will find him," Sif vowed. "We will leave tonight."

"No," said Thor. "We need to plan more carefully, and in the morning, we will. But tonight, you must rest."

Sif seemed not to like that, but she acquiesced. "If that is your wish…"

"Leave us now," Thor instructed. "We will join you in the dining hall shortly."

"Is it that time already?" Fandral remarked. "We really should be going, then, before Volstagg arrives and there is nothing left!"

"Of course," said Sif.

As they made their way out, the sounds of clattering armor could be heard echoing in the corridor. After a few tense moments, Dr. Banner spoke up.

"You couldn't have just… called me?" he said, smiling nervously. "Don't you have phones here yet?"

"My apologies," said Thor. "I hope they did not alarm you."

"Oh, no, not at all," Banner replied. "But… let's just say that S.H.I.E.L.D. is… very aware of my absence."

"Why is he here?" Julian demanded.

"I'm sort of wondering the same thing," said Dr. Banner.

"I need to know what S.H.I.E.L.D. has done to him," Thor said.

Dr. Banner sighed; clearly, he was getting tired of explaining himself. "Well, we've just been continuing with the project we abandoned several years ago, just… on a more restricted timetable. The plan, as I understand it, is to expose Julian to enough gamma radiation to make him…"

"To make me be like him," Julian concluded.

"Basically, yes," Dr. Banner confirmed, "the point of all this being that Julian would deal with our Loki problem for us."

"Can you reverse it?" Thor asked.

Dr. Banner just stared at him for a moment, puzzled, before he replied. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you were serious."

"Of course I am."

"No, I can't reverse it," said Dr. Banner, a bit irritated, it seemed. "Don't you think I would have reversed it for myself if I could do that? The best I can do is teach him how to control it."

"And have you done that?"

Dr. Banner turned to Julian. "Did you read the books I gave you?"

Julian started to shake his head, but the motion made him queasy. "No. I, um… I haven't had time."

"But you've been taking the injections anyway?"

"Uh-huh."

"Julian," Dr. Banner scolded, "we need to mitigate harm here. If you're going to do this, you need to-"

"No," Julian interrupted. "I'm not listening to you anymore. I'm done with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"It's not about S.H.I.E.L.D.," said Banner. "You could hurt someone you care about if you don't get your condition under control."

"My condition?" Julian was getting mad, and though he didn't want to prove Dr. Banner right, he knew he needed to calm down. He wouldn't survive a fight with the Hulk, not when he was already injured. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He told himself that he was overreacting, and though he couldn't convince himself fully, it helped. When he felt it was safe, he opened his eyes again.

"I know you're not happy," Dr. Banner said slowly, keeping his voice down, "but you can't get angry, okay? It could get messy with both of us in here."

Julian took another deep breath. "It's already a mess. My whole life is a mess."

"Dr. Banner," Thor said, "if it cannot be reversed, is there at least some way we can stop it from becoming worse?"

"That depends," said Banner. "What do you think is the worst outcome here? If he stops treatment now, he'll just continue to experience the same painful side-effects he's always had. If not…" He hesitated.

"What?" Thor pushed. "What is it?"

"Like I said, it's an experiment," Banner replied. "It's possible it won't work, but that doesn't seem likely at this point. If it wasn't working, he'd be dead, or at least violently ill…"

"He could have died?" Elise interjected loudly. "You knew that, and you still-"

"Mom," Julian said, his voice quiet and flat, "it doesn't matter." The suggestion that he could have been killed barely shook him. He was so tired that he wondered if his life was nearing its natural end anyway, gamma radiation notwithstanding.

"There was a small chance he could have succumbed to poisoning," Dr. Banner acknowledged, wringing his hands anxiously. "But we knew that the likely outcome was that he would become the weapon S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted. Now, we just have to worry that he's going to fall into the wrong hands, like any other weapon."

"He's not a weapon," Elise growled, clenching her fists at her sides. "He's a person. He's my son. Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"I can help him, Elise," Thor said. "I can protect him, not only from Loki, but from S.H.I.E.L.D., as well."

"You?" Elise scoffed. "No thanks. I don't know what you think he's up to, but we're not going help you antagonize him."

"That is not my intention."

"Then what is your intention? Because breaking into his house and kidnapping his family probably got him a little worked up."

"Thor, she has a point," Dr. Banner interjected. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has been playing their cards close to the chest for a reason. There's no telling what Loki might do now. That was the whole point-"

The arrival of one of Thor's guards brought the conversation to a halt. "My King," he said, somewhat out-of-breath, "an urgent matter requires your attention."

"What is it?" Thor asked.

"Maria Hill, of Midgard," the guard replied.

Thor sighed. "I assume she is not pleased with me."

"She is not, my King," the guard said.

Thor turned to address Julian, Elise, and Dr. Banner. "Wait here," he said. He then turned his attention back to the guard. "Look after them. They are not to leave this room."

With that, Thor was gone. The guard's eyes darted from one captive to the next. He appeared nervous, gripping his spear with both hands.

"What?" Elise said to him. "Are you new here or something?"

The guard jumped slightly. "Huh?"

"You just seem a little on-edge, that's all," said Elise. "Relax. We're not gonna run off or anything."

Julian was puzzled. "Mom?" He said, sitting up straight. "What are you-"

"Shh, shh." She placed her hand on his shoulder. She spoke in an exaggerated, motherly tone of voice. "You need to get some rest. We wouldn't want another outburst, would we?"

Perhaps it was his head injury, or perhaps she had a trick up her sleeve.

"What's your name?" Elise asked the guard.

"You… don't need to know that," he replied.

"I just thought we could get to know each other a little bit if we're gonna be stuck here for a while," Elise said. "Have you met Julian? Or Dr. Banner?"

The guard ignored her.

"You ever seen an ice giant before?"

"…A frost giant?" the guard muttered, his fingers curling more tightly around his weapon. "No."

"Right, 'frost giant,' sorry," Elise laughed. "I wasn't sure what the politically-correct term was. Anyway, Dr. Banner here, he's working on this project. They're trying to build a better frost giant. You know, stronger, scarier…"

"I think you should stop," Dr. Banner suggested.

"No, no, he should know about this," said Elise. "Not that I'd want to make you mad." She turned back to the guard. "See, he's not just a scientist, he's also a monster. A big, green, angry monster. So let's be sure not to get on his nerves, right?"

"What are you doing, Mom?" Julian asked.

She shrugged. "I'm just letting him know who he's dealing with, so that when we walk right past him to go listen in on what I'm sure is a very interesting conversation, he doesn't give us any trouble."

"W-wait," the guard stammered, "what?"

"Come on, Julie," Elise said, starting toward the door.

The guard stood in her way, blocking her path with his weapon. He cleared his throat and said, "I cannot let you leave here."

"Are you sure?" Elise said, smiling. "I'll sic my friends on you if you don't."

Dr. Banner backed up. "I'm not, um… I'm not going to do that."

"I might," Julian said, getting to his feet. "I'll, uh… I'll grind your bones to make my bread."

What a stupid thing to say, Julian thought at himself. Regardless, it seemed the guard wasn't familiar with the cliché. He was white as a ghost.

Elise brushed past the guard without further comment, and Julian caught up to her quickly.

"Wait!" Dr. Banner called from the room.

"Are you coming or not?" Elise responded without turning to face him.

They kept walking, and Dr. Banner quickly caught up.

"Are you trying to alienate everyone you meet," Bruce said, quietly, but with slight frustration, "or does it just come naturally?"

"I don't wanna hear another word out of you," Elise replied. She whispered, but her tone was nonetheless acidic. "I should never have trusted you people, not that I had a choice. S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't keeping any more secrets from me, especially not when it comes to my own kid."

"I'm sorry," Dr. Banner said. "If I had known what they were going to ask me to do-"

"Where are we going?" Julian interrupted. He was fatigued and unsteady on his feet, and he needed to know how long he would have to remain upright.

"I don't know, sweetie," Elise answered. "But you both have to be quiet, or we're never gonna figure it out."

Elise stopped abruptly, causing a minor collision in the narrow corridor. Julian could hear the echo of Thor's ranting, but couldn't make out the words. Elise started walking again, and the three of them closed in on the source of the sound. They proceeded quietly down one more hallway and rounded a corner, suddenly finding themselves in the right place: an unadorned area, in the wall of which a circular screen, not unlike a television, was embedded. The image was smooth and clear, as if the person on the other side was in the room herself. In this instance, that person was Director Hill.

"So you do understand what you've done, then." The audio was as clean as the image. "You understand, but you don't care, is that it?"

"So," Dr. Banner whispered, "they don't have cell phones yet, but they have Skype?"

"Shh!" Elise hissed, turning briefly to glare at Banner over Julian's shoulder.

"I did what had to be done," Thor argued loudly, either ambivalent to or unaware of the fact that he was being watched. "My nephew-"

"What had to be done, Thor," Hill interrupted, with evident frustration, "what we really needed to have happen back there, was for you to take Loki out of the picture."

"And I have told you," Thor shouted, "my Warriors Three will return for him!"

"And I've told you," replied Hill, "that we don't have that kind of time."

Thor paused and stared into the screen. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," Hill sighed.

"Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why?'" she snapped. "You kicked the hornet's nest!"

"Then you are asking me to act upon a threat that has not been made?" said Thor. "What can he do? He is a coward. He will not show himself again."

"He already has, Thor," Director Hill said, lowering her voice. "He knows how to reach us, and he did."

"What do you mean?" Thor demanded. "How?"

"I'm patching the recording in now. Hold on."

Julian's stomach turned as the screen went momentarily black. His father appeared on screen, seated and flanked by two of his miscreant "soldiers," both of them masked and armed with semi-automatic weapons. Already, it was the ubiquitous threat video in every respect, and after several seconds of dense silence, Loki began his monologue.

"Maria Hill." He smiled as he often did when something truly terrible was coming. "If only you had considered the consequences of your orders. Lives could have been spared, perhaps even your own life. But you must understand…" His eyes narrowed and burned with rage, and his next words were forced through gritted teeth. "It is not often that I become sentimental, but you have threatened my family. In your misguided struggle to retain control of this realm, you have tried to break us. You could not persuade them to abandon me, so you resorted to force, and in doing so, you have given me no choice but to return the favor."

The camera panned shakily left, away from Loki and his guards and onto Alexis. Similarly, she was seated between two armed and faceless guards, but given the swelling in her face and the labored rise and fall of her chest, it was evident that she remained there against her will. Without any further exposition, the guard positioned stage-left pressed the barrel of her gun to Alexis' temple and let off a shot. The guard on the opposite side of the screen barely flinched as blood and brain matter splashed him.

Julian was sure he was going to be sick. To make matters worse, his heart was pounding, and his muscles burned and itched under his skin. He wasn't sure which symptoms were attributable to his head injury and which were not.

Dr. Banner, it seemed, was disturbed by the display as well. "Why?" he breathed, inches away from Julian's back.

"No, no, no," Elise whispered, her voice wavering. "He didn't… that's not what he would do, not if-"

"That's not what he'd do?" Dr. Banner's voice remained quiet, but became increasingly tense. "He just…" His words seemed to be getting caught in his throat, and he held onto Julian's shoulder with a heavy hand.

Julian just continued to watch the recording in silence and extreme discomfort from their as-of-yet undiscovered vantage point. The camera was on Loki again.

"Now," Loki continued, "when I was residing in that institution – 'civil commitment,' I believe, is the term – a great fuss was made about addressing 'feelings.' Of course, this was largely a waste of time and energy that could otherwise have been devoted to more meaningful pursuits, but I did learn how to communicate in a language even you might understand. Shall we try it now?" He leaned forward and spoke slowly, as if addressing a child. "Today, I feel anger, because you sent a spy to disrupt my plans. I feel insulted, because you sent an inept brute after me with the expectation that I could not outwit him. And, lastly, I feel joy, because I know that soon, I will watch you fall on your own sword." He laughed a bit. "You will just have to wait and see what demons I can conjure up."

The screen switched to black again, and Dr. Banner gripped harder on Julian's shoulder. Now, it was getting irritating.

"Cut it out," Julian whispered curtly without turning his head. He was becoming agitated, and the fingers digging into his sore shoulder were unhelpful.

Dr. Banner groaned, or growled – it wasn't clear which. "I… hate him."

His voice was warped, and his words weren't his, either. Julian recognized it for what it was, but he turned around to make sure anyway. Sure enough, Dr. Banner's skin was turning a sickly green, darkening and brightening as his body swelled to test the limits of his clothing.

Director Hill was speaking again. "So, what are you going to do about this?"

"What can I do?" Thor replied, exasperated. "He could be lying. He is known for that."

"You cannot keep apologizing for him, Thor!" Hill protested.

"This has nothing to do with brotherhood," Thor retorted. "I will not send my people to fight a threat that may not exist and leave Asgard defenseless."

"Mom," Julian whispered urgently as Dr. Banner's hand became heavier on his shoulder.

"Julie," she replied quietly, still watching Thor, "I need to hear this."

"Mom," he repeated, louder now. "You have to get out of here."

"And go where, exactly? We can't just…" When she finally turned around and saw what was happening to Dr. Banner, her mouth hung ajar and the color drained from her face.

"Just go!" Julian shouted, and he pushed her out of the corridor and into the room where Thor stood arguing with Maria Hill.

A terrible roar erupted from Dr. Banner – or, more accurately, the Hulk – rattling the stone walls and threatening to burst Julian's eardrums. With a sweep of his hand, Banner knocked Julian face-first onto the stone floor, out of his way.

Thor whipped around to face the danger at his back. As Elise rushed past him, he extended an arm protectively, then began to approach Julian and Dr. Banner cautiously.

"Julian…" Thor spoke slowly, perhaps in an attempt to appear calm, but there was an unnerving tension in his voice. "Come here. With your mother."

Scrambling to his feet, Julian obeyed the order and rushed to join Elise near the farthest wall. His skin was starting to crawl, though, and he feared losing his composure again.

"Banner, you must listen to reason," Thor said as the Hulk lumbered toward him.

The Hulk stopped momentarily and grunted in reply.

Thor's arm was still extended, and his palm was open. The Hulk started moving again, beginning to circle Thor, and Thor moved with each thundering step the Hulk took to better shield Julian and Elise.

"You may regret what happens here," said Thor, finally calling his hammer to his hand from the corner of the room. "Stop now, Banner."

The Hulk roared his abrupt warning, then lunged at Thor. His fist stopped on the hammer, which Thor quickly extended upward to meet his enemy. When he pulled the weapon backward and away, the Hulk stumbled, and Thor seized the opportunity to attack, striking the beast in the small of his back.

Julian felt simply miserable, and he was powerless to stop the transformation that was once again occurring. This time, he didn't fight it. He couldn't. Instead, resigned to the change, he let go and hoped that his mother would stay clear.

"Do not interfere, Julian!" Thor's words were muffled in the altered physiology of Julian's ears, and he pretended he was too far gone to understand their meaning.

The Hulk took advantage of Thor's distraction and swatted him out of the way. The impact of Thor's body cracked the screen on which Director Hill had appeared, and he slid down over the dashboard and onto the ground.

Without forethought, Julian leapt onto the Hulk's back and wrapped his arms around his neck, squeezing hard. The Hulk attempted to wedge his fingers between Julian's arms and his own throat, thrashing in panic and swinging Julian around as he moved. In the corner of his blurred and shaking field of vision, he saw Thor get to his feet and raise his hammer again.

"Julian!" he shouted. "Let go!"

"No," Julian snarled.

He was more in control this time, somehow more aware of himself, but still, an obstinate, furious part of him refused to relent, even though what was left of his reason told him it was best to do so. He loosened his right arm, pulled back, and bashed the Hulk twice in the back of the head. This not only stoked the Hulk's rage, but provided the chance he needed. He yanked Julian's left wrist from his neck and flung him away.

Time seemed to slow, and then, Julian hit the wall.

Julian was back where he began, wincing at the bright source of light at the ceiling of the room with the hard table, the Asgardian nurses, and little else. His ears were ringing, and he shut his eyes to ease the searing pain that seemed to cut through the center of his brain.

"He will be just fine," one of the healers said.

Julian realized he had awoken in the middle of a heated conversation.

"He must learn to control himself." It was Thor's voice.

"If I may, my King," said the other of the two healers, "you must keep him out of harm's way until he is well again."

"Guys," Julian groaned. "Why does this keep happening to me?"

He was ignored.

"Please," the eldest healer implored, "get him to his bed, and let him rest. He may not be so fortunate if he suffers further injury."

Julian's senses were completely garbled, and it took him a few long seconds to realize that he was not floating, but being carried out of the room by the King of Asgard himself. His mood was off, too, and he couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"This is no laughing matter," said Thor.

"I can't help it," Julian slurred. "This is weird."

"You fought bravely," Thor said, "but you could have lost your life."

"Who cares?" Julian replied flippantly as they ascending a tall, spiral staircase. "S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't count."

"Your mother does," said Thor, who apparently took the question literally. "You father does, though perhaps for the wrong reasons." He paused momentarily. "I do."

"Right reasons or wrong reasons?" asked Julian.

Thor chuckled softly. "You have every reason to question that. You have suffered enough."

"But that doesn't answer my question."

"Is it not reason enough that we are family?"

Were they family? Did it matter?

"I will not succeed in persuading you, not with words alone," Thor said. "I can only show you. I am not Loki, after all."

Julian couldn't process it – not then. "I'm too tired," he said slowly, his head falling backward to rest on his uncle's arm. "Too tired..."