"Friend Stark! Friend Stark!" Thor rushed into the lab, bouncing like a puppy. "I have wonderful news!"

"Yeah, what's up?" Tony didn't look up from his suit. "And be careful in here, there's all kinds of doo-dads lying around here."

Thor bounced over to Tony. "Loki escaped from your prisons! He's free again!"

Tony glanced up in shock. "That's good news? Point Break, your brother is a criminal mastermind! The fact that he's out of jail is a very bad thing!"

Thor shrugged innocently. "But Loki has never liked to be pent up in such a small area as a prison. He is happy once more. Now all that remains is for us to find him, and I can convince him that we are brothers, after all!"

"No, if and when we find him, we're putting him right back in jail, Thor." Tony corrected irritably. "Now get out of my lab, and go eat some pop tarts before you break something important."

Thor slumped in disappointment, and drearily shuffled out of the lab, knocking into a table with one of the strange doo-dads resting on it. The contraption teetered ominously for a few seconds, before tipping over, and falling onto Thor's head. There was a small explosion of golden light, blasting Tony backward into the wall behind him.

The engineer struggled to his feet. "My quantum generator! Thor, what did you do to my baby?"

Naturally, Dum-e chose that exact moment to try to extinguish Tony's rage. With a fire extinguisher. "Blublbipbur!" Tony bubbled, wiping foam off his face. "Dum-e! That's it, go sit in the corner!"

The robot beeped unhappily, and rolled over to the side of the lab as Tony stumbled over to the wreckage. "My baby! My poor thing!" He clucked, picking up pieces of the machine.

"I'm very sorry, Friend Stark…" A small, adorable voice proclaimed from the epicenter of the disaster zone. Tony glanced up to see a small blond… kid, sitting in the middle of the floor.

"EEK!" He jumped backward. "Jarvis, we're infested! Call the exterminator!"

Jarvis did not respond to that, as the child unsteadily got to his feet. "Stark, what are you talking about? I'm not an insect… How are you suddenly so tall?"

The kid peered up at him in confusion. "I did not mean to break your machine, Stark." He continued, blinking innocently up at Tony with huge blue eyes.

"Wait a second… Thor?" Tony gasped.

Thor nodded. "Yes, that is my name. I think the machine may have done something to my voice, as well." The child looked down at his hands. "What in the nine… Anthony? Am I… a child?"

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. How could this day get any more ridiculous? "Yeah, Thor. You're a kid."

Tony knew next to nothing about kids. Bruce said they stressed him out, so that was a big no. The spies were off on a mission, and Steve and Pepper were in Germany for the week. That left nobody to take care of Thor. The Thunderer apparently retained all of his memories, but next to none of any maturity he'd had at all. He was a ball of energy, leaving nobody but Tony to chase around after him, making sure he didn't actually destroy everything he touched. By the end of the day, Tony was exhausted, physically, and mentally.

The next morning, Tony awoke to a small, chipper voice, chirping something about pop tarts in his ear. He groaned, pulling a pillow over his head, and tried to ignore the tiny boy's constant stream of words from his mouth. And he thought he never shut up, himself. It wasn't until Thor started moving out of the room that Tony realized Thor wasn't talking to him. He sat up bolt upright, his eyes scanning the room, landing on Thor, his ear to a telephone as he walked toward the door.

"Hey Thor!" Tony called groggily.

"Huh?" The small boy turned to look at him.

"Who you talking to?"

Thor grinned. "Loki! I remembered his phone number, 'n I wanted to talk to him!"

Tony felt the blood drain from his face. "Thor, give me that, now!"

"Bossy…" Thor grumbled, but handed it over.

Tony put the phone to his ear. "Loki? You still there?"

"Anthony." Loki acknowledged. "What, exactly is going on?"

The engineer glanced down at the tiny Thor at his feet, small fists on his hips as he glared up at him. Loki should definitely not know that one of their most powerful fighters was incapacitated. "Uh… nothing. One of the kids at an orphanage charity thing stole my phone. Kids, you know."

"Then how do you explain the fact that he now lives in your tower?" Loki asked smoothly. "I'm not an idiot, Stark, I can trace a phone call."

Stark cringed. "Oh, that's just because the orphanage charity thing… is… hosted at my tower!"

"Then… shouldn't it be all over the news?" Loki pointed out. "I can tell a liar when I hear one. Tell me what's really going on."

Tony bit his lip. "Nope, that's the truth! The solid, one hundred percent facts. Nothing more, nothing less! Toodle-oo!" Tony quickly hung up.

"Who, exactly, are you trying to fool, Stark?" A calm voice said behind him. Tony turned around to see the Trickster leaning casually against the doorway.

"Loki!" Thor cheered, running over to his brother, and wrapping his tiny arms around Loki's legs.

"What's this?" Loki demanded, backing up sharply. "Is this your orphan, Stark?"

"No, silly, I'm Thor!" Thor chirped, dancing around with far too much energy to be natural. "I dropped one of Anthony's machines on my head, and now I'm little! It's great, because now I can hide in really tiny places! That's what I told you on the phone, 'member?"

"Is this true?" Loki demanded.

Tony shrugged. "What'd he say? I don't exactly speak kid."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Just listen to him. It's not a separate language. He said there was one of your machines, dropped on his head, rendering him to the state he is in."

Tony blinked in surprise. "Yeah, I really didn't get that. But, yeah, that's pretty much what happened."

Loki gazed softly down at his brother. His entire demeanor seemed to have reversed from the cold, malicious Loki that Tony was (sadly) used to seeing, to a new, soft, empathetic Loki. "Stark, you look as if you've been dragged backward through the lesser intestine of a bilgesnipe."

Tony snorted. "Yeah, thanks. That's the look I was going for, sure." He didn't even know what a bilgesnipe was.

"You are exhausted, caring for Thor." Loki deduced. "None of your teammates can handle children, so the responsibility has fallen to your shoulders."

"How'd you know?" Tony asked.

Loki glanced up, a small smile on his face. "I see it in your eyes. Worry not. I will care for my brother. Is the spell temporary?"

"Spell?" Tony asked, his mind reeling. "Yeah, I think the effects should wear off, soon. Maybe within a week."

"Excellent." Loki nodded, scooping Thor up onto his hip. "I'll return him to you when he has regained his… stature. Until then, sweet dreams."

With that, he disappeared with his blond brother.

Loki immediately teleported to the warehouse he'd been hiding out in. Thor glanced around in mild interest, and childlike excitement. "This your house, brother? It's big…"

"Don't break anything." Loki quietly instructed. "I'm going on a quick errand; I'll be back in a few minutes."

Thor nodded compliantly, and Loki teleported away. Quickly placing a glamour over himself so that no one would recognize him, he "borrowed" some clothes in Thor's size, and a large quantity of food. He was back at the warehouse within twenty minutes, but Thor still claimed he'd been gone for hours.

"I missed you, brother!" He proclaimed. "I did some explorin', while you were gone, and I found this!" He held up Loki's blueprints for the portal he was planning to use to allow entrance for the backup army. "What is it? It looks cool…"

"Don't touch that. You'll soil it." Loki snapped, quickly snatching the paper from his brother, and rolling it up again.

"I'm hungry, Loki! You got any food?" Thor piped, completely undeterred by Loki's harshness. "I didn't eat any breakfast at all, 'n now it's almost lunch time! You got any pop tarts in your house?"

Loki shook his head silently, beginning to think he'd gotten himself into more trouble than he'd bargained for. He pulled a loaf of bread and two slices of brisket out of his satchel, and quickly arranged them into a sandwich. "There. Food."

"Yaaaaay!" Thor cheered, stuffing his face. Loki sighed, and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He was always so tired, recently. Tired of running. From the law, from Tha… the Master, from Odin, from himself, his past, everything. He was tired of being a coward, but he saw no other way to go. If any of those things were to catch up to him, he would… he wouldn't want to think about that.

"Loki?" Thor asked. The Trickster glanced down at him. Seeing Thor this young, this vulnerable, it reminded Loki of a time when things were simpler. When they were brothers, and Loki thought Thor was his everything. Those were brighter times. At the end of the day, though, it was really nothing but sentiment. But someone had to take care of Thor, and Earth's Mightiest Idiots apparently weren't up to the job. Not because, Loki noticed, he wanted Thor around. Because the universe would suffer if Thor wasn't. Especially Midgard. Midgard needed the Thunderer to survive.

"What is it, Thor?" He asked softly.

"Why are you always bad?" Thor innocently wondered. "Isn't it better to be good?"

Loki stared at the ground ruefully. "What other option do you see for me?"

Thor shrugged. "You could come home. To Asgard."

"Asgard hates me." Loki swiftly countered. "There's no place for me there."

Surprisingly, Thor nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess so. But you could live at Stark's Tower. With me. And the Avengers. We could be happy, together. Like a family, again! Wouldn't that be great?"

Loki shot him an incredulous glance. "The Avengers hate me more than Asgard does. With good reason; I slaughtered their people."

Thor shook his head. "They don' hate you, Loki. You jus' annoy them a lot. Friend Anthony told me once, that if you weren't so evil, that he 'n you could be friends, probably. So, stop being so evil, and you could live at the tower."

Loki shook his head in defeat. Thor was now too young to understand. Children were so naïve and innocent, they didn't realize that forgiveness was not to be doled out lightly. And to some miserable souls, not at all. Loki was a monster. The blood of countless thousands dripped from his fingers. Creatures such as he could never be… accepted.

"I'm bored, Brother." Thor announced, plopping down into the dirt in disconsolation. "Can we play a game?"

Loki glanced over at the blond child, smiling hopefully up at him. "Which game would you like to play? Kill the Jotuns?"

Thor's eyes got really big. "Loki, I don' play that game, anymore. I don' wanna kill them. Jotnar are nice!"

"Nice?" Loki arched an eyebrow. "Which Jotun have you met that wasn't a bloodthirsty beast, just waiting to be slain by a hero?"

Thor giggled, getting back to his feet. "Well, you, of course! You're not all that stuff you said! You're just… hurting?"

"Hurting?" Loki asked.

"Yeah." Thor nodded. "Mother tol' me you do all the bad stuff because your heart aches. That true?"

This was getting more personal than Loki liked his own mind to be. "What game do you want to play, Thor?"

Thor was easily diverted by the question, and thought for a while, tapping his chin, and staring off into the distance. "Um… How 'bout… Hide 'n seek?"

Thor was occupied by hide and seek for the rest of the day, despite the fact that he insisted Loki was cheating, and turning invisible. After Loki'd fed him, again, and choked down some food, himself, (He was always a bit queasy, and eating was a painful ordeal, ever since his six months with the Master.) he wrapped Thor in some ratty blankets, and left to scavenge for spare parts for the portal in the dumpster. For some reason, his heart wasn't in it, that night. He couldn't help but replay in his mind, over and over, the words Thor had said about him.

…we could be happy… like a family…

…if you weren't so evil, him and you could be friends…

…isn't it better to be good?...

…you're not all that stuff…

…Mother says… your heart aches…

…you could come home….

Thor believed in him, that much was for certain. It was a bit gratifying, but also… Loki felt a bit like he was letting Thor down. Did he truly want to take over Midgard? No. He merely wanted to secure the three stones, and return them to the Master, so he could go free. Be able to do as he wished, go where he pleased. Perhaps, though, when Thor got big, again, he could protect the Trickster from the Master. At least, for a while. Maybe Thor was right. Maybe Loki could live at Stark Tower. No, there were still the rest of the Avengers. Stark and Thor were only two out of six.

…they don't hate you…

…you just annoy them a lot….

Loki's mouth turned up at the ends into a small smile. Annoying the populous was practically what he lived for. But he could do that without actually hurting people… right?

Loki decided not to work on the portal that night.

"Loki?" Thor's tiny voice roused Loki from his sleep.

"Hm?"

Thor's small hand slipped into Loki's. "I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you, tonight?"

Loki turned over, blinking up at his brother with bleary eyes. "Mm-hm."

Thor slipped under Loki's arm, cuddling into the Trickster's side. That was the moment Loki made his decision. He didn't want to be away from his brother, anymore. He didn't want to be alone.

TheOnlyHuman.