A/N: I thought it would be nice to address the family issues Thor and Loki have.

Chapter 21: Broken Pieces.

It started with an email, sent from an anonymous source, and when he read it, he could not believe what it had to say.

Loki,

This may seem strange to you at first, but please listen to me, for what I have to tell you is the truth, the whole hearted truth, my name is Laufey, and I am your real father….

Loki stopped reading the email right there, he sat stunned, cross legged on the bed he and Thor shared in one of Tony's guest rooms, he couldn't comprehend what he'd just read, why would someone do this? What kind of joke was this to pull on someone?

Shakily, he moved to retrieve his phone, dialing a well-known number, "Loki?" Loki cleared his throat, "father," there was a concerned silence on the other side of the line, "is everything alright son, you seem distressed."

"Father, am I really your son?" Loki asked softly, staring at the email with blank eyes, "what, why would you ask such a thing?"

Why would he? Loki wondered, he couldn't deny there was differences he couldn't un-see once he noticed them, like how he was so physically different than Thor, despite the whole fraternal twins thing he'd be told once when he'd pointed out their physical differences to their parents. Even the difference to their parents, why they had fairer hair and his was darker than night, why Thor looked so much like their father with a hint of their mother and Loki had no resemblance to either of their parents.

But now, to be faced with a shred of proof that everything was not as it seemed, he deemed it logical to finally ask.

"Who is Laufey?" he continued, noting in interest how his father went deadly silent, "where did you hear that name?" the man demanded, "That doesn't matter, who is he?" Loki asked, clutching the phone tightly, "Loki, my son, if that man has contacted you, you need to tell me."

Loki shot up from the bed, his laptop crashing to the floor, "no! I don't have to do anything, you need to tell me the truth, am I truly your son?!"

"Yes Loki, you are, you have been and always will be my son" his father's voice sounded defeated, "but what else? Why do I have an email saying that I was adopted? Why do Thor and I look nothing alike, why do I bear no resemblance to you or mother, who am I?!"

"Loki, that's enough, you are exactly who you've always been, Loki Odinson, my child. Now delete that email, pay no mind to that fool, if he contacts you again, you tell me."

"Not until you tell me the truth" Loki demanded quietly, his father sighed sadly, "you're old enough now to understand."

Loki sat heavily back down, listening to his father's words, "Laufey is a distant relative, very distant, he was into all sorts of bad things Loki, not a man anyone can be proud of. The police raided his house one day, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years for drug smuggling and other illicit misdeeds, among the desolate house, the police found you, a new born, weak, ill, neglected and forgotten."

Loki swallowed thickly, feeling tears weld up in his eyes, "you would've died Loki, if the police had not found you, they reached out to us, and your mother and I took you in, we raised you as our own."

Loki shook his head, "now I know why you always favored Thor, why you're always so proud of him and never once gave me that same look of pride, you should never have kept this from me, you should have told me the truth!"

Loki hung up the phone, violently chucking it across the room, tears of hurt and rage burning a trail down his pale face.

Loki stood, throwing open the bedroom door, stalking angrily into the open kitchen/ living room where he knew Thor was, he went straight to Thor, who sat upon the couch eating a popsicle and talking with Steve and Bucky over the up-coming school season.

Thor made a sound of outrage as Loki stormed over to him, pushing the frozen treat out of his hands and sending it sailing across the room, "Loki what on earth has gotten into you?!" Thor demanded standing up as the conversation came to a halt.

"Did you know?" Loki demanded, not backing down, "I do not know of what you speak, brother." Thor responded frowning, Jane came running into the room at the sound of the raised voices, followed by Natasha and Bruce. Tony was at work and Clint and Rhodey were out at the beach, not knowing what was going on in the house above them.

"Thor, Loki is everything alright?" Jane asked hesitantly, taking in their angry stances, "stay out of this" Loki hissed, casting a glare at the petit brunette.

Jane paused in shock, Loki and she had never seen eye to eye, he had believed for the longest time that she was stealing Thor away from him.

"Do not speak to her that way!" Thor shouted, bringing Loki's attention back onto himself, "what madness has taken over you?" Thor asked once Loki's attention was back on him.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked quietly slipping to stand beside Steve and Bucky, who'd risen to their feet in preparation for a physical conflict.

"No idea," Bucky whispered back, Steve nodded, "Loki just came in, in a right rage, demanding to know if Thor knew or not" Natasha sidled on up to the three boys, "if he knew what?" she asked watching the seen intently, preparing to step in herself if needed.

"Don't know, he never said" Bucky shrugged watching the interaction, "Did you know?" Loki demanded again, ignoring everyone in the room except Thor, "Did I know what?" Thor asked his expression one of complete and utter befuddlement.

"Did you know that I was adopted?" There was a chilled silence in the room, no one had expected that, Thor coughed, breaking the silence, "what difference would it have made if I knew or not? We were raised together Loki, we are brothers."

That seemed to answer Loki's question as he shook his head and took a step back, "you knew" he whispered brokenly, "you knew this entire time, and you never told me."

Thor gestured helplessly at him, "Would you knowing have made a difference? Loki, we are family," Thor insisted, stepping toward his brother.

Loki shook his head, angry tears falling once more, "you knew, and you never told me!" he repeated, "it's all so very clear now isn't it Thor, why they always put you first, I was just the pity case they took on!"

Loki turned around and made towards the door, "Loki, this is madness, come back, brother!" Loki paused, turned his head to look at Thor over his shoulder, "you are not my brother."

With that he was gone, disappearing out the front door. "Wait, Loki is adopted?" Bucky asked, staring at Thor in disbelief, the giant blond sat heavily down back onto the couch and nodded solemnly.

"He's the son of a distant uncle; Laufey, the man is deplorable, drug dealing and other nefarious deeds, the police found Loki as a baby, neglected and half-starved, my parents took him in, not wanting him to go into foster care."

Thor sighed tiredly, "I became aware of the adoption when we moved, mother asked me to retrieve some papers from her office for her and I came across the adoption notice, I asked and she told me."

Thor glanced up at the others, "I never saw the point in telling Loki, it wouldn't change anything, we were raised together, played together, got into fights together, we are brothers, why tell him when it would make not a difference in how I felt for him."

Jane made a sound of comfort, moving to sit beside her boyfriend and curling into his side, "give him time Thor, he's just in shock, he'll come around."

Thor nodded silently, not sure if he could believe the words, he had never seen Loki so hurt and angry before.

A/N: Oh dear, things just got heavy.