Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, or any of the characters used in this fic. They all belong to Marvel and their respective creators. I only own any original characters that I choose to include, as well as any original plot ideas.

Chapter 21: Mother

The recommended tune for this chapter is "Runaway" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The unease had crept up on him early in the evening, slithering down the back of his shirt the way his brother's tricks might have once upon a time. Trout in the bathhouse, snakes in his bed, spiders in the dining hall. All of those mischievous pranks had sent shivers down his spine, and it was again, as he sat stiffly amid the ceremony, that Thor felt the very same sensations. It did not disappear the way he had expected, a hand constantly reaching up to the collar of his shirt to ensure that there were nothing unwanted laying its touch upon his skin. And, each time, Thor found nothing.

There was an emptiness he kept on running across in the days, a moment where he felt as though he were suspended in midair, not quite certain just which way was up. It was a terrifying feeling, to not know who or where he was, where he was meant to stand. The others, Thor feared, could not understand. They could not quite know the feeling of perpetual loss as he, though they had all had loved ones stolen quickly away. The best way to explain, the God of Thunder thought, was to look to the Tower, acknowledge that his brother still lived if only to spite him. That, he knew, was far more of an ache than laying the man to rest.

It was as a dream, his hand in Jane's as she led him, their group as blissful as they could be given the circumstances, offering thanks to those who, despite hardships and peril, still sought to protect their city, the nation, the world, from obviously unfair rule. It was then that, once again, Thor felt a shudder thrum through him, his feet stopping firmly on the floor while his head turned, slowly, to peer over his shoulder.

A smile greeted him, the same that he remembered from his days as a boy, darting through the foliage of the forests with his friends. But it was not the same smile at all. Not the least bit warm and playful as it had once been, but bitter, a precursor to yet another show of theatrics on his opposite's part. A promise. A promise of death and mayhem.

In a singular motion, Thor took hold of her, pulled Jane into his arms and dropped to the floor, the others staring with wide eyes as he shouted for them to get down. Though it was with question, they too dove down, an ear-shattering burst of flame and rubble tearing through the room, hovering just above their heads. The screams tore at him like hands having risen from the grave, the anger and confusion brimming inside as the heat promptly dissipated.

Around him, there were bodies, people shuddering, some charred and unmoving. But, all the same, there was but a singular expression on Loki's face. It was that of pride, as though he had successfully whittled away the rough edges of an otherwise talentless orchestra, only to produce the most enthralling sound ever to grace a man's ears. It shook Thor to the bone, his feet lifting him as he lunged across the room, catching his brother by the collar of his jacket and shaking him.

"This is no game, Loki!" he roared, and Thor's teeth chattered. "Why?! Tell me why you insist on slaughtering civilians?! Have you not spilled enough blood?!"

Only then did the Trickster's eyes move, narrowing slightly as they fixated on his face, expression blank and serious.

"Have I had enough, you ask," Loki murmured, appearing thoughtful. "It is sad that you feel the need to ask me, Thor. But, if it is an answer you seek... No. No, I haven't. There will never be enough, for they are all guilty of the same crimes. Greed. Lust. Pride. Do you not see it? These people you fight for... they seek nothing but their own empty satisfaction. And that will not change, no matter how long you hold out your hand for them."

"Then what of yourself? Are you trying to tell me that this is all that's left? Your hatred?"

Silvertongue blinked, eyes wide and looking taken aback. "'Trying?'" he repeated. A smirk. "I have not been trying to tell you anything. I have told you precisely what I am and what I intend from the beginning. You have just been too deaf to hear."

Thor growled, pushed forward and shoved Loki to the floor, shaking him until a rattling echoed in the Thunderer's ears.

"Then war is what you have chosen?! Do you not care for that which remains in Asgard?! Do you–?!"

His chest screamed, body thrown back across the room, the backside of his jacket rubbing against the shine as Thor heaved. A sharp pain in his side, and hands set about his throat, Loki's composure so suddenly lost.

"I have never cared for Asgard; for the realm that made an outsider out of me!" He'd hit the fever pitch, breath ragged and tone every bit as rough as it had been amid their battle on the Bifrost. "What have I to lose should I conquer the Aesir realm?!"

"Do you not care for them?! For our mother?! For Sig–"

A sharp sting across the side of his face, the anger in the other's eyes drifting closer to anguish.

"Don't you speak her name," Loki hissed. "You haven't the right."

This could not go on. It already had for long enough. It had come time to put an end to this bickering, forget the childish need to win a petty verbal argument, and speak but the truth rather than wasted words of reason. But, Thor thought, even that was a potentially vain shot in the dark, and there was no telling whether or not the news from home would be enough to stop Loki's madness, even if only for a moment.

A deep breath he drew, seeking to still his fluttering heart, quell the storm of bile that churned heavily in his gut. Even now, he could see her, lying still as death loomed over her, that gentle face of hers never again to swell and bloom with pride and joy, a smile tugging beautifully at her lips. She would not again rise at dawn, come to find him in his chambers, run her fingers through his hair and whisper sweet words of comfort as she had when Loki had first gone away. She would not cry with him, seek to still his fears and usher away his nightmares with song. All of that Thor acknowledged with a heavy sigh, had been taken away, and it took everything he possessed to not lash out and cast that blame fully upon his brother's shoulders.

Time seemed to slow, his arm rising up from the floor to touch the other's face, the ache of loss burning inside as Thor's eyes began to glaze over.

"If nothing else, I have sought to bring you news of Mother's death... I am sorry."

One could feel the atmosphere of the room grow tense, heavy, nearly see it weigh a man down and send him to his knees in stark shock. And it did. Like the weight of the Nine Realms had fallen upon him, Loki crumbled, the mask breaking and giving way to that same desperate look that he had cast at Odin, seeking approval, acceptance, anything at all. Thor could barely hear the faint whine, the shudder of breath as Loki searched himself for something to say. But there came not a word.

He felt almost bad for having said anything, but it would have been far worse had Thor kept it from him, sought to hide yet another bit of crucial truth. He would not take the same path as his father, would not allow this chaos to spin ever further out of control by the way of utilizing lies. Yet, truth, it seemed, was not quite so much the Son of Odin's ally as he had initially thought.

"Just like him, aren't you?" They were forced words, pushed out in place of the scream that Thor knew burned within. "Every bit hisson... Liar..."

"Do you not understand, Brother?!" shot the Thunderer, and his voice cracked. "She died waiting for you!"

"That's enough of your lies!" Loki sneered, and the God of Thunder could see the child searching the palace for his mother's shadow. "She's not... She wouldn't..." Less and less the words were directed at him, until Loki spoke only to himself, fingers tearing into his hair and eyes squeezed shut. "No... No, it's not possi–"

"Loki..."

Without thinking, Thor inched his way across the floor, outstretched hand falling squarely on his brother's shoulder, fingers offering a gentle squeeze as he bowed his head. He should have known it would happen like this, whether or not he had opted to conceal the fact until a later date.

A quiet sound reached his ears, the god's head rising once again.

"What...?"

"Liar," came the reply, and Thor felt himself being knocked back, heat exploding against the surface of his skin as flame touched him. "You're a fool, Thor! Always have been!"

He heard gunshots, flinched as Loki staggered back, snarling at Natasha and the others as they advanced, Tony and James with their suits and the assassin with her gun and daggers. A thin line of blood on his brother's cheek, and an unheard threat, a chunk of the room's ceiling collapsing inward, bashing in the floor and leaving a heavy cloud of dust, bullets still flying as Thor coughed, covered his head and hurried back towards the group. Jane's arms encircled him once he dove to the floor again, managing somehow to slide right into her grasp, waiting with bated breath for the smoke to clear.

"Did that work out the way you expected, Thor?" Natasha asked him, the sound of a fresh clip snapping into place.

The God of Thunder said nothing as he sat upright, the dust gradually settling, and cast his eyes about the mess that his fool brother had made.

To his great regret, Thor saw that Loki was nowhere to be seen.