A/N: I have some reservations about this chapter, hopefully it's not as crap as it seems in my head. I don't know if it warrants a trigger warning or not, but I should warn that the dialogue has some mild, indirect allusions to non-con. Thank you to Guest, fanficfan, RedCardinals (b'aww :D) and angrbodagiantess for reviewing, and my beta Rue for being squishy 8)

Loki closes his eyes and leans his head back, allowing his face to dip below the surface of the bathwater and a steady, dull pounding to fill his ears. The tub has lost its warmth and grown cold, but still he lingers, enjoying the sensation of being clean and refreshed – and being unshackled. The unlocked handcuffs are sitting innocuously on the shelf where Thor put them, and (for a short time, at least) he feels less like a captive.

Surfacing, Loki exhales, draping one arm over the side of the tub. He thinks of the humans moving about above him, and wonders what they are doing, saying, feeling. The thought of them talking about him fills him with a mixture of fear and aversion, worsened by the memories of Tony Stark's words. Opening his eyes, he stares up at the blank concrete overhead. After the previous night's catastrophe, he wouldn't be surprised if Stark decided to completely restrict his autonomy and forbid him to come upstairs; in which case, this ceiling will be his sky for a long time. Buried underground.

His train of thought is interrupted by the bathroom door opening to admit Thor.

'Awake yet?' Thor enquires cheerfully as he deposits a folded garment of some thick, fluffy fabric on the cistern. Behind him, Loki shifts position, withdrawing his limbs underwater self-consciously. Now is as good a time as any to execute his plan, yet the trickster can't bring himself to actually do it. The prospect of looking Thor in the eye and lying is paralysing in its potential to go utterly, horribly wrong. 'These should fit you. If not, we can find something else.'

Loki swallows surreptitiously, his voice still a dead lump in his throat. Thor sighs. He can't understand Loki's behaviour – flying one moment from warmth to reticence, from being eager-to-please to being unwilling to spend a second in the same room…Not long ago, Loki was clinging to him as if his life depended on it, but now he cannot bear to be touched. Oh Loki. Even now, you still confuse me.

'Are you in a mood to talk, brother?' he asks. The water sloshes as Loki shrugs. 'I do not mean to force any kind of confession out of you, but…Stark told me that you and he argued. He would not elaborate further save to say that you spoke your mind about him. Can you tell me what happened?'

Loki already knows what to reply – he has been mentally rehearsing it all morning. Wine made Stark talkative, he mocked me and said vicious things. Things that are too painful for me to repeat. When he left, I didn't know what to do, and I was afraid to tell you in case you didn't believe me, so I drank myself to sleep. There. Not an outright lie, but a twisting of the truth with certain aspects omitted. It is hardly his most elaborate plan, but it seems fool-proof. With just a few words, he will absolve himself of wrongdoing and repay Stark for his cruel words. The human will of course deny such wrongdoing, but Thor will not believe him – why would he, when his own brother is the injured party?

However, Loki is afraid. His trembling fingers clutch at the slippery white porcelain.

'We did have a quarrel,' he mumbles into his chest.

'Who instigated it?'

'I – Neither of us – He did,' Loki flounders. 'He told me that I was entitled and ungrateful.'

He's hoping for shock and righteous indignation. Instead, Thor merely frowns.

'He should not have said such things. I will reproach him and tell him to apologise to you. But you must accustom yourself to his manner, brother. He does not have a gentle way with words, and speaks his mind for better or for worse.'

'I know. I understand. But in the heat of the moment…'

'I know he can be difficult to converse with; but however he may appear, Stark is a good man. He has been gracious towards you. You must not discard his friendship.'

Thor's tone is kindly, but Loki can read beneath it, and knows he is being scolded. He feels the sting of his brother's disapproval (no matter how small) keenly.

'It's not that, brother,' he protests desperately, 'I didn't intend to cause him offence, but – He sparked the quarrel, not I.'

'That is not how Stark told it,' Thor's frown deepens. 'He said that you demanded to be unbound, even though he had made the terms of the arrangement clear. When he refused, you harangued him.'

Loki suddenly wants to cry. His scheme has crumbled before he has even put it into action, and the premeditated falsehood now seems rash and pointless. What have I done? How could I be so stupid, to risk everything for the sake of one lie? A lie that would accomplish next-to-nothing? Was it really so worth it?

'Your eyes grow wet. What's wrong?' Thor kneels beside the bathtub. 'I didn't mean to upset you.'

'No.' Loki covers his face, trying to hide his tears but only managing to make his eyes sting with soapy water. 'It's just…I…' I'm a fool.

'If you must weep, then do so, but at least tell me why.'

'I…' Loki is groping for an adequate alibi, but can't find one. He knows he should retract his words – just admit he tried to tell a lie, and apologise for it. Thor will forgive him, Tony will never know, and he can just pretend it ever happened. But then Thor asks:

'Did Stark hurt you?'

Just like that, the door which was slammed shut in Loki's face has re-opened. He stares at Thor. I can still do this, he realises slowly. But what should he say? That Stark grew violent and threatened him? No, that's too implausible. The mortal wouldn't physically harm a prisoner without provocation, and Thor knows it. But what then? Something within the realms of believability. He struggles to remember what Agent Barton told him an eternity ago. What is Stark best known for? Wealth. Philanthropy. Technological brilliance. Extravagance. Profligacy.

Meeting Thor's gaze, Loki gives a slight nod. Thor places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes comfortingly, encouraging him to go on:

'Last night, he kept giving me wine. It made me feel dizzy and sick, but he kept telling me to drink, and I could not refuse. I had no choice. At first I thought he was merely attempting to play the host to his guest, but then he began to say things. Ask questions. About me. He made it clear what the nature of his interest in me was.'

Initially, Thor doesn't understand. It takes a while for him to work out the implications of Loki's last statement, and then he goes pale.

'Are you hurt?' is the first thing he asks.

'No. He didn't actually…do anything. But I was afraid. I wanted to walk away, but I couldn't. He tried to persuade me…in the process, he mocked you for defending me, saying that it was gullibility on your part. Eventually, I protested. I accused him of abusing your trust. I spoke rudely …it angered him and he left.'

Loki trails off. He is amazed by how fast this situation has turned around. Thor gives the side of his neck a comforting pat.

'Alright. Stay here. I'll be back soon. Just stay here, understand?'

Loki nods, dropping his gaze. After pausing for a minute to try to gather his thoughts, Odinson heads upstairs. He finds Tony Stark on the third floor of the house, en route from bedroom to bathroom, red-eyed and clearly hungover.

'You,' Thor barks upon seeing him. Striding towards the startled human, he drops his voice and hisses, 'You made unwelcome advances upon my brother?'

'What?'

'You plied him with wine for the sole purpose of lowering his defences. Despite his reluctance, you persisted. You exploited the state he was in and misused your own power. I should have known better than to leave him in your care…With the extent of your licentiousness, who could expect self-control?'

'Woah. Woah.' Stark retreats a step. 'What the hell did you just say to me?'

'You heard it clearly.'

'Okay, can we go back to the part where I hit on the Viking Sith-Lord? Because unless I'm suffering from memory loss, that never happened.'

'Do you deny it?'

'Yeah!'

By now, Rogers and Banner have appeared, drawn by the shouting. The soldier can sense a fight brewing, his hand lingering close to his shield.

'What's going on here, guys?' he asks sternly.

'Hell if I know. Ask him!'

'Thor, you wanna explain what this is about?'

'I would rather not, for my brother's sake, but I suppose you deserve to know. Last night I found Loki unconscious and intoxicated. This morning we spoke and he confessed that he had been made the target of unwanted attention. It is not the attention itself which I oppose, but the fact that it was pushed upon Loki when he was in no position to reject it. And you – ' again he rounds on Tony – 'you had the audacity to claim that Loki's anger was unwarranted and he berated you for no reason!'

'Are you serious?' Tony is visibly upset. 'This is total bullshit. Thor, I guarantee, you can pull up every frame of security footage and you won't see or hear me do anything suspect.'

'That proves nothing,' Thor snaps. 'You control the machine, you could easily have tampered with the evidence.'

'Jarvis isn't a machine. And I'm not some kind of creep. How can you even think that?'

'Your habits are well-known,' Odinson counters.

'Look, Thor, I swear I never – '

'Do not waste your breath. My brother told me everything I needed to know. He could not bring himself to delve into details, but what he did say was enough.'

'Okay, let's not jump the gun here,' Bruce positions himself between them. 'Perhaps Tony said or did something harmless and Loki took it the wrong way. In which case, this is all a misunderstanding,' he reasons. 'Did you question him?'

'No. There was no need.'

'No need?' Tony exclaims. 'So you just bought into it without a second thought? It never even occurred to you that he might be stringing you along like in the good old days? Jesus Christ…Jarvis, show him!'

'One moment, sir. Processing.'

A blue-tinted hologram flares to life, occupying the space between their heads with a three-dimensional view of Tony and Loki. The humans watch solemnly; Thor is forced to listen to the grainy echo of his brother's drunken anger until phantom-Stark departs from view. The footage ends, yet the image of holographic-Loki sitting alone is seared into Thor's mind.

'That's it, then,' Rogers finally breaks the silence, 'That's all there is to it. Come on, Thor, think about it. We all know Tony would never do something like that.'

'…My brother's manner was earnest…'

'Well, he lied to you!' Stark retorts. Folding his arms defensively, he continues, 'Okay, I admit, my behaviour towards him last night was kind of dickish; he said some things he shouldn't have and I gave him a hard time for it. I probably should've gone back and apologised to him instead of just walking away, but I was too tired and pissed-off and I couldn't be bothered. I wouldn't blame him for wanting to get back at me. But this? Use your brain!'

Seeing the sheer hurt and disgust upon Stark's face, and the scepticism upon the others', Thor realises he has made a mistake. Thinking back, the sincerity of Loki's tone seems suddenly hollow and artificial. Feeling increasingly ashamed of himself, he doesn't reply.

'Besides, where the hell were you throughout all this? You were hours late to the party. What was so damn important you couldn't be bothered to check up on your brother?'

'I did not want to force my company upon him after we had argued. I deemed it best to leave him be. I see now that I should not have left him to his own devices.'

'Do you want me to go and have a word with Loki?' Bruce asks.

'No. No, he's my responsibility, I'll deal with it.' Thor turns on his heel and leaves.