"Why does it matter what I think?" Bruce sighed. "Are you just expecting me to say what you want to hear?"

"I want honesty. I thought you would've understood that by now," Loki scoffed.

"So telling you that I think you're a psychopath will get the same reaction from you as saying you're just misunderstood? I'm not sure I buy that," Bruce replied.

"You said before that you have nothing to lose. Why worry about the fallout?"

"That may be true, but what is it you have to gain? Do you think anything I say will change anyone's mind?" Bruce asked. Wasn't Loki getting bored of this yet? This conversation had to end sometime.

"You underestimate the power of your words."

"With who? With you? Is that what this is about?" Bruce questioned, shaking his head as his brain was putting together the pieces. But it felt like he was pulling from fifty different puzzles. The edges might fit if you forced them, but the end result was still a confusing mess. "You want to hear me say you can be redeemed? Why do you want absolution from me specifically?"

"Well, you are the only one here," Loki pointed out.

"By your design," Bruce shot back. He ran through the words that had been spoken throughout this whole ordeal, trying to reach the conclusion of this verbal battle. "Why would my words mean anything to you?"

"They don't."

"Maybe hearing I can forgive you means you can forgive yourself."

"Oh, you're reaching."

"You've been throwing out parallels between us this whole time, trying to convince me that I'm no better than you, no different. If I deem you worthy of a chance at redemption, maybe you can believe it too."

"Bravo. Your delusions sure have risen to astounding heights," Loki murmured, clapping sarcastically.

"Your deflections won't work this time."

"Your thinking is very flawed."

"No, I don't think it is."

"A matter of perspective."

"Not this time."

"How unfortunate for you, to be so unwilling to accept what is real."

"You want to know what I think? No filter, no holding anything back?" Bruce asked. "I think-"

"What the hell?" Tony hissed, staring at the slab of concrete Thor had just knocked over. There went the element of surprise.

"It was not deliberate," Thor growled, glaring over at him. Evidently, being so close to capturing his brother again had Thor in a mood. Hopefully that would work out well for the good guys.

"I guess we don't have to be as slow and careful anymore," Tony sighed, looking around the abandoned building. "Sound travels like crazy through places like this." It was kind of ridiculous how high rent was in this state when they had all these buildings that weren't even being used. Tony would have to think about buying it and flipping it later. As long as they came out of this on top.

Thor didn't need to be told twice, taking off toward the staircase. Tony groaned and followed, wishing he was flying and blasting instead. In theory he could just let Jarvis take over his suit and zone out, but he couldn't do that for something so important. Getting Bruce back deserved his full attention.

"What the hell was that?" Natasha whispered, looking up toward where they heard the noise.

"Tony and Thor must've found Bruce and Loki," Clint replied, tightening his grip around his bow.

"Hurry!" Steve directed, leading them up the stairs.

"Well, I believe our time is up," Loki said, conjuring a haze of green magic above his fingertips.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Bruce demanded, looking frantically around at the sleeping babies.

"You said yourself that I'm no good. You had to have known this was coming," Loki said simply.

"But-"

"Don't try to change your mind now that you are fearful of the repercussions. We always knew how this would end."

"But it doesn't have to! Nothing is ever a foregone conclusion. There is always a chance for change!" Bruce shouted.

"Exactly," Loki purred, before spreading his arms and sending out a flash of blinding light.

"Dr. Banner! Dr. Banner, can you hear me?"

Bruce groaned as his head pounded. Someone was cupping his cheeks and yelling at him, but he didn't want to deal with it. Hadn't he earned a little rest at this point?

"What did Loki do to you?"

Those words made all the previous events slam back into his brain and he opened his eyes in shock. A relieved looking Steve Rogers was hovering over him. Was this ordeal finally over?

"The babies!" Bruce gasped, sitting up and looking around wildly. The room he was in now was bare and empty. "You have to take me back to where you found me."

"This is where we found you," Steve replied, helping him stand up.

"You don't understand! Loki had me in a nursery," Bruce insisted.

"This whole building is abandoned. Unless he moved you before we came-"

"It was a trick," Bruce sighed, running a hand down his face. Bruce could've hulked out or walked out with no issues, but Loki had manipulated him into thinking others would be put in danger. "Where is everyone else?"

"They are searching for Loki. I stayed behind to watch over you and protect you in case Loki came back," Steve replied.

"He got away?" Bruce groaned, hanging his head in defeat. If only he'd known that it was safe to take action from the beginning. Now they were back to square one.

"Not for long," Steve assured him, walking around the room to inspect it. "So, what happened here?"

"We talked."

"About?"

"Life."

Steve looked over at him in confusion, but didn't say more. The rest of the team came back a few minutes later empty handed. Tony was insisting that Jarvis would be able to track him and they'd have him back soon, but Bruce wasn't going to hold his breath. Loki had won this round.