A/N: I think I know where I am going to go with this now. Sorry for the delay. Have been working a lot lately. I would like to thank EVERYONE for their reviews, they truly mean a lot. Specifically, I'd like to thank SanguineNoctis, xsillyrabbitzx, BeatrixRosier and the guest who wrote the really long review. I don't know your name, but thanks! I'll be incorporating elements of all of these reviews into the coming chapters, so again, thank you so much for the ideas, you are all awesome.

Ch. 14

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just got a phone call from Fury. We need to talk."

Steve looked down at Loki, then back up at Bruce.

"Um, do you want to discuss whatever this is here?"

Bruce understood what Steve meant. It might not be best to discuss anything having to do with the other Avengers around Loki. Considering the massive flashback he'd had earlier, he might react badly to any type of stress, even if it had nothing to do with him.

"Yeah. You're right. Meet me outside."

Loki didn't say anything when Steve stood up and proceeded to walk out of the room. He himself was not sure that he wanted to know what was going on. If it was something bad, he wasn't sure if he could take it.

Steve met Bruce out in the living room. There was no way that Loki could hear them talking there.

"What happened?"

"A few things. For one, Thor's gone."

"What? Where'd he go?"

Bruce sighed. "Fury said that one of the guards dropped the key to Tony's cell while Thor was nearby. Of course, Thor picked it up. He got into Tony's cell and was about three punches in when Tasha walked in."

"Well, I can't say I'd blame Thor, all considering."

Bruce frowned, "We're supposed to be better than that."

"I know. I know, it's just… Loki's a wreck. I can't imagine how it would feel knowing that my sibling had been through something like that. But, you're right."

"Tasha thought the same," Bruce continued, "She told him to stop and he did. Then he stormed off. No one can find him."

"That's not good. No one has any ideas where he is?"

Bruce shook his head. "SHIELD is looking into it. Fury had called because he wanted us to ask Loki if he had any thoughts on it, but it might not be the best idea right now. Making him worry about his brother won't help Loki's situation."

Steve bit his lip. "Maybe we should just give it a few days. Thor can take care of himself, after all."

00

It had not taken Thor that long to get to the top of Everest. He could have spoken to Odin from anywhere, and the Allfather would have heard him, but Everest seemed right. Thor was enraged, and the height of the mountain matched the anger in his heart.

There was no one at the summit, thankfully. He stood alone on top of the snowy, windy ledge and called out.

"Father!"

There was no response. Not that Thor had really expected one.

"I need to speak to you! It is urgent!"

Nothing.

"Father, I have always been good to you. Please let me in!"

It was then that a tear seemed to develop in the fabric of the sky. Before Thor even knew what hit him, he was being thrown through the space at an incredibly fast rate. He passed stars, comets, other planets of the realm before arriving at Asgard.

Specifically, he arrived in front of his father's castle. He landed on his feet, but the impact was so hard that even he could not take it. Thor collapsed to his knees. It was a decent amount of time before he was able to stand up and continue his journey inside.

00

When Steve returned to the bedroom where Loki was, he found the ex-god staring at the wall.

"Sorry about that," Steve said.

Loki just shrugged.

Steve wasn't really sure how to proceed. If Loki asked what had just been discussed, he'd probably make up some lie, but Loki did not seem to be all that interested in the details.

"So…" Steve started, trying to gauge how Loki was feeling. He had hoped that Loki would say something. Anything. But that did not seem like it was going to happen.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" Steve finally asked, after a few more minutes of silence.

"Something… maybe to help the pain?" Loki asked, meekly as always.

"Oh. Yeah. I'll ask Bruce for something. What hurts?"

Loki looked up at him, and his eyes spoke the answer. Everything hurt. Obviously.

"Nevermind," Steve said. "I'll be right back."

00

Bruce set Loki up with a morphine drip. The medicine helped a lot, but it also made him very tired.

Steve had sat with him for most of the afternoon, not saying anything. At one point he'd dragged the television from the other room in, and he and Loki had watched re-runs of Looney Tunes. It had been one of Steve's favorite cartoons as a kid. Loki did not seem to mind it either.

"I like the rabbit," Loki said, after watching one of the cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny. His comment was so quiet that Steve had to strain to hear him.

"He's one of my favorites too. And I like Tweety."

This caused Loki to smirk. "You like the little bird?"

"Yeah. Can't really explain why. He always made me laugh."

Loki rolled his eyes, but said nothing else. The time passed peacefully, and Loki fell asleep a few episodes in.