Thor laughed along with the rest of the Avengers. Perhaps this trip hadn't been all bad; he had gotten a new group of close comrades, of friends.

"I'm just glad this is all over," Clint said from his slumped position on Stark's couch. He looked at Thor. "I don't ever want to see your brother, your brother's magic, or your brother's scarily blue eyes ever again."

Thor's smile faded. He didn't want to be reminded of Loki, but for some reason, he felt he had to correct him. "My brother's eyes are green."

The effect was instantaneous, and the mood in the room was immediately dampened. "No, you're - his eyes are blue. I swear his eyes are blue."

Thor frowned. "You must be mistakened. I grew up with him. His eyes are green."

"No, no," Natasha interjected. "I remember seeing his eyes blue, too. I was literally standing three feet in front of him during the interrogation."

"Look, this is a really random detail. Do we really need to discuss this?" Stark asked.

"Yes!" the three of them said at the same time.

"Okay." He raised his hands in surrender.

"But...aren't your eyes blue, Thor?" Bruce asked.

"Well, that doesn't mean much, considering Loki's adopted," Natasha said.

"Oh, yeah. Right."

"His eyes are green," Thor said slowly. "It matches the color of his magic, and the green on his clothing."

"But his eyes are blue!" Clint exclaimed. "It's like the last thing I remember clearly before..." He gestured vaguely at his head.

"Someone's gotta be wrong here," Steve finally interjected. "I'm inclined to agree with Thor."

"You don't have to incline anything, Rogers. I've got security footage." They all turned to Stark. "Jarvis?" he asked, glancing at the ceiling.

A holographic screen turned on in front of them, and Thor watched, numb, as it was revealed that his brother's eyes were blue. A stormy, unnatural blue that was extremely unfamiliar on his face.

"See? Blue," Clint said, proving his point.

"But..." Thor swallowed. "They're green. I would know." Had he really been this blind?

"You know what blue means," Natasha said slowly, sharing a meaningful look with Clint, who looked like he was trying to swallow a hard pill.

"What does it mean?" Thor asked. He didn't like the unknown feeling creeping up his spine.

"Clint's eyes turned blue when be was mind controlled," Bruce said softly.

Silence reigned in the room for a few seconds as they tried to process this information.

Thor stood up suddenly. "Woah. Where are you going?" Steve asked, holding a hand up to halt him.

"To see my brother."

The whole team stormed into the holding cells, where Loki was currently chained and gagged.

He snapped his eyes open as the door was unlocked, and seemed to glare at the lot of them for disrupting his sleep.

Thor closed his eyes at the sight.

His eyes were a familiar emerald green, shimmering with intelligence, cunningness, mischief, and...apprehension. "See? His eyes are green," Thor said faintly. He didn't like what all of this implied.

Loki's eyes widened with what seemed like surprise. The witless oaf actually figured it out. Thor could just hear it.

Clint stepped up beside him, openly gaping at the sight. "No way." Loki rolled his eyes, but Thor knew him well enough to see a hint of guilt.

Stark laughed a little. "Seems Reindeer Games is innocent after all." Thor watched as Loki let his eyes flicker down to his hands in...guilt? Shame?

He itched to reach out and free his brother, but he wasn't sure of much anymore. "What - what are we going to do now? What's going to happen?"

"Well," Natasha said, crossing her arms, "we gotta inform Fury about this. I'm sure he'd want to know." She pursed her lips, looking Loki up and down. Loki narrowed his eyes at her scrutiny. "You should probably free him. If he really is innocent, he shouldn't stay tied up like this."

If possible, Loki's glare intensified. He is right here. Thor grimaced. Loki had never liked to be talked over. Or silenced.

"Come on, Clint," Natasha said, walking out of the room. Clint followed after a few more seconds of staring at Loki's eyes (and not in the romantic way).

"Um...yeah. I'm gonna go. There's still a Loki-shaped hole in my floor that I gotta fix...or memorialize. You never know." Stark all but fled the room, leaving Thor, Bruce, and Steve to deal with Loki.

"You might want to check on those cuts," Steve said. Loki stiffened at the mention of his injuries.

"Yeah. I'll - um. I'll go get my stuff." Bruce left the room, presumably to get medical supplies, and Loki seemed to sag, almost in relief. He seemed so tired, Thor noted absently.

"If you wouldn't mind, Captain..." He started.

"Yeah, I'll be right outside the door." And then he left.

Thor waited about half a second before rushing to his brother's side. "Loki!" He unlocked the cuffs and tore the gag away, throwing it onto the ground.

Loki flinched at each sound, and turned away from Thor as soon as he was free. "Loki?"

"Hmm?" Loki asked absently, before furrowing his brows and clearing his throat a little.

"What..." Thor didn't know how to broach the topic. "What happened, Brother? In the void? Who - who controlled you?"

"I'm not your brother, Thor," Loki said softly, still turned away and looking at the wall. He ignored all the other questions.

Thor put a hand on his shoulder. "You are, no matter how many times you deny it. I'm sorry I made you feel undervalued before."

Loki laughed bitterly. "No being in their right mind would want a Frost Giant for a brother."

"Well," Thor shrugged, "you've always called me an idiot before. Now's the time to prove it."

Loki laughed again. It sounded watery. "I still tried to kill you."

"It's fine."

"It's not, not really. And then all this New York stuff..."

"Brother?" Thor asked uncertainly.

Loki turned to him then, and let out a sound that was part-laugh and part-sob. Something in Thor's chest ached at the sight of his brother's face, so close to breaking down. "I don't," he ran a hand through his messy hair, "you all think that because I was mind controlled, I am absolved of all fault. But somewhere, somewhere in here," he jabbed at his chest. "is something dark and shriveled and filthy, and it wanted to kill you and rule Midgard. I wanted to."

Tears tracked paths down his cheeks, one after the other. Thor was almost entranced by the sight. He sighed, reaching out to wipe them away with a soft touch. "It's okay, Brother. You understand now that this was a poisonous dream. Now you just need to get better."

"How?" Loki inquired.

"Well, for one, tell us who controlled you, what happened in the Void."

Loki stiffened. "I don't think you're ready to hear that," he whispered. I don't think I'm ready to tell you.

Thor tried to be patient, smiling a small smile and cupping the side of his face like he used to do when they were younger. It's okay. "We'll wait. You don't have to do it now."

Loki nodded, ever so hesitantly leaning into his touch. Thank you.