Loki blinked. Once. Twice. "How...?"

Thor had the decency to look a little sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. "It...happened."

Loki stared at the poor door Thor had somehow broken. A thick metal door at that, built by Tony Stark himself for the sole purpose of resisting Thor's strength. It was currently laying on its side on the floor, broken into three solid pieces, with the doorknob laying somewhere across the room. There was a ragged hole in the wall where the door was supposed to be, but obviously wasn't.

Loki sighed, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, then turned, stalking out of the room.

"Wait, Loki! Help me!"

"Nope!" he called back. "You deal with Stark! I'm going back to the peace and quiet and cleanliness of my own room."

"Wait, no! Brother, brother please. Lo-"

"What the hell happened to my door?!"

They crept around the semi-destroyed Hydra base, looking for anything remotely useful. Loki doubted they'd find anything.

His magic poked at him then, causing him to stiffen and look around. Nothing. His magic poked at him again, and he frowned. His magic was never wrong. He crept around the debris until he came across a small, flashing light attached to a device with multi-colored wires and a timer, nearing zero.

His eyes widened. "Shi-"

An explosion. Huge one.

Flying through the air. Weightlessness. Falling.

Knocking into something hard from behind.

Landing.

Blood. Heat.

Head throbbing. Air knocked out of lungs. Chest - chest hurt.

Breathe. Breathe. You have to breathe.

Ears ringing.

Everything blurry. Blobs moving through his vision. Move. Move. Can't move.

Limp. Tired. Pain.

Blue sky; blue eyes. Loki, stay awake.

The welcoming arms of darkness.

He opened his eyes, sitting up suddenly and barely holding back a cry of pain.

Hands on his shoulders and chest pushed him back down.

"What happened?" he asked. Oh, his throat was so dry.

Thor seemed to notice, handing him a glass of water. He sipped at it slowly.

"There was a bomb there that we didn't catch. You were near it when it exploded." He sat on the edge of the hospital bed and patted Loki's blanket-covered leg.

"Injuries?"

"Bruce said most of your ribs were broken, and your arm, too." Loki looked down at his left arm to find it in a thin cast. "Three of the ribs punctured your lungs. Your magic's been working overtime to fix it."

Thor sighed. "If you were human, you'd be dead."

"Well good thing I'm not human, then."

Thor swatted lightly at his uninjured arm, so light that Loki probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been looking.

He frowned. "I'm not fragile, Thor."

"I didn't say you were."

"You implied it."

Thor looked miffed. "I did not."

"You did."

"Did not."

"Did."

"Did not."

"Did."

"Did not."

"Di- it doesn't even sound like a word anymore."

Thor smiled a little, but it soon faded. "I was really worried when I heard the explosion."

"I'm fine, Thor."

"You always say that."

"Because I'm always fine. You worry too much." Loki set the water down on the bedside table.

"It's my job."

"No it isn't."

"Well it's certainly not yours." Loki winced. He had a point there.

He glanced at Thor's face for a second. The big oaf had that kicked puppy look again. Oh, he definitely wanted a hug.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Come 'ere." He scooched a little to the side, ignoring how his wrapped ribs sang in pain.

"But you're injured!"

"Has that ever stopped you before?" he pointed out.

He smirked; he knew that face. Thor was admitting that he was correct.

He crawled up onto the bed beside Loki with a sigh, hesitating to wrap his arms around him. "I'm healing, Thor. Not like that toaster you broke yesterday."

"Hey!" Loki smiled as Thor put an arm around his shoulders and let him lean his head into the crook of his neck.

"It's true. You're lucky Stark's a billionaire, or he'd be broke from fixing everything you've broken."

"I don't break that many things."

"Need I remind you of the door from last week?" Loki asked, smug.

"That was a one-time thing," Thor mumbled, looking sheepish.

"You need to learn to control your strength, Brother."

Thor seemed to frown. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

Loki shook his head. "No."

A few moments of silence. "I'm glad you're okay, Brother." A pause. "You were coughing up blood. I was worried."

"I'm alright, Thor." Loki patted his arm. "I'm glad I'm okay, too."

A snap of a phone camera, and they turned their gazes to find the others squished in the doorway, with Stark's blinding smile right in the center of it all.

"Aww...that's cute," he said, and if Loki could, he would've taken a pillow and thrown it at him. "I have blackmail material now."

He glared at Stark. "Doesn't Jarvis already record everything in the tower?"

"You better leave. I think he's gonna turn you into a frog," Clint stage-whispered.

"Shut up, Katniss. Jingle Bells here doesn't have a drop of magic to spare."

"Oh, I will by tomorrow." Loki gave them all his most winning smile (read: mischievous smirk).

The following day found Pepper Potts frantically chasing after a suspicious green frog encased in red and gold armor.