A/N: This past, long hiatus is brought to you by Depression. Even though this chapter was almost finished, that lovely mental health forbade me from finishing. Hopefully… with this new-found discipline… I will push past it and continue.

Seeing all the wonderful reviews, follows, and Kudos on both FanFiction and Ao3 make me smile. Just know that I am trying my hardest to right forward.

—This was supposed to be one long chapter, (coupled with the upcoming one) but I wanted to get you this sooner.

Xo Anonymityofaturtle

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Loki woke up the next day not feeling much better. He spent most of the night with on and off stomach pains with little sleep in between. Loki was serious when he swore if the mortals didn't get it right this time, that he would just flat out strangle them for all the pain they've caused him.

It wasn't long after he had gotten up and showered that Thor came in with breakfast.

—

"Good morning, brother!" Thor greeting too chipper for Loki to tolerate. The younger brother was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room with a random book—again, not really reading it.

The waft of oatmeal caught Loki's senses and immediately made his stomach churn. That was the last thing he wanted. Last time he had it, it was not a pleasant thing to come back up.

"How do you fare today?" Thor said as he set the tray of food at the table.

Loki sighed quietly and shut his book.

No point evading the inevitable, I suppose.

"Fair enough," he replied. Loki had to stand up carefully to not get the painful pull in his stomach. Thankfully, it was slight enough that Thor couldn't notice.

"That is good then!" Loki's brother replied happily. Thor pulled out Loki's chair for him and sat down himself. He served the food off the plate as Loki came to join him.

Loki sat and saw the ginger tea sitting in front of him. He immediately took it in his hands, hoping it would settle his stomach.

Thor looked back up at him eagerly.

"Loki, you would not believe what happened this morning!"

Raising his brow as Loki took a sip of the hot tea. He paused to enjoy its soothing properties before replying.

"Care to enlighten me?" he asked.

The older god looked as if he almost couldn't contain his excitement.

"I came into the kitchen to prepare our breakfast and was approached by the Captain!" Thor started.

Loki took another sip of tea and curiously listened.

"He came to me and said he'd be happy to make both you and I breakfast!" Thor continued with a smile on his face, "He even asked what you liked, and he would prepare that. Could you believe that?!"

Loki set his mug down.

The guilt must be getting to the Good Captain. he thought to himself. As if the small gesture could possibly forgive his actions in the lab, along with the others…

"Such a kind gesture for his prisoner," Loki stated with a sour tone.

"No, brother!" Thor looked hurt by his Loki's perception of his friend's generous offer, "He sees you as an ally now, a friend!"

Loki rolled his eyes, unconvinced. It made Thor frowned.

"Let us finish our meals and you will see for yourself when you see him," Thor said.

As Thor started to dig into his breakfast, Loki drank the rest of his tea. Not even wanting to look at the meal in front of him. The drink was somewhat helping his nausea and calming the cramps.

"Are you still feeling ill?" Thor spoke up, his mouth full of food.

Loki realized his brother had noticed his avoidance of the oatmeal. The last thing he wanted was any more worry from Thor. Though an excuse was hard to make… Loki had used them all up in his past conversations with him.

"A little, but it is getting better," Loki said as he set his cup down, "So don't fret over it."

"If you are not feeling well, then maybe you shouldn't see the others today. It is best for you to rest. Maybe even see Banner," Thor replied, concerned about his brother's odd, prolonged sickness.

That was an immediate 'no' from Loki. He didn't want to hold off these tests and trails any longer. The sooner they are done, the sooner he could put his plan into action. It has not been easy for him, but he can tell they are slowly starting to trust him— some more than others. The doctor, Loki knows, is the easiest to win over with his sympathy.

"It must be something I ate," Loki lied with a huff, "You know how these Midgardians put unnecessary chemicals in their food."

Thor made an uncomfortable hum noise. He was not liking this one bit. His brother refused to go to Dr. Banner for his symptoms and just wanted to push through it. The behavior was typical for Loki, but Thor felt something off. He's angry he didn't notice before. Since Jane was in town, that's all he focused on. Thor couldn't even remember the last time he's seen her. He let that blind him of his duties as a brother.

"Are you positive?" Thor asked skeptically.

"Ugh, yes of course," Loki rolled his eyes dramatically, "The tea you brought was fine."

"Very well. But don't be hesitant to talk to Banner. You know he will be more than happy to assist you."

"Yes, yes," Loki dismissed with a hand wave, "I'll be fine while you go off and gallivant with your mortal woman."

"Oh, but I am not seeing Jane today," Thor stated.

Loki looked at him confused. That is all he's been doing for the past few days.

"Then where are you going?" Loki inquired.

"Nowhere," Thor replied, "I am accompanying you to Stark's lab."

Oh, now he cares!?

"Why?" Loki frowned. Out of all the times he wants to be together… it's now?!

"Why? Because I care about you, brother. I feel guilty to leave you here all the time," Thor's face softened, "I do not know what is going on with you, but you seem… different."

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Loki said, brushing him off. He stood up out of his chair and pushed it in. They might as well leave and get this over with.

"Do you think I don't notice you sleep more and eat less?" Thor's voice grew a bit louder, "Something is bothering you, and I want to help!"

"You cannot help, because there is nothing to help with," Loki spat back.

Thor stood up out of his chair abruptly and strode over to his brother. Loki took a step back in the uncertainty of Thor's next action. To his surprise, Thor just cupped the nape off his neck in a familiar gesture. Strangely, Loki could not help but flinch.

Thor noticed and frowned.

"You know I would do anything for you. You know, that right?" he said.

Loki knew those words were one-hundred percent true. Thor would do anything for him. It was a blessing and a curse at times.

"Yes, I know," Loki replied with a straight face.

Thor stared at Loki hard. The younger brother, feeling uncomfortable, finally pulled his head out of Thor's grasp. He walked to the bathroom, muttering how he needed to fix his hair and try to look more presentable before they left. Loki ignored Thor as he heard his brother follow.

The older brother stood at the doorframe, arms crossed, waiting for him. While Loki was smoothing his hair back, Thor couldn't help but notice Loki's sleeve had slipped down. It revealed a large bruise on his forearm. He was immediately alarmed by it.

"Where did you get that?" Thor blurted out.

Loki turned to him, taken back to his brother's random, loud demand.

"Get what?!"

Thor strode up to him again, but this time he was angry. Loki turned and faced him, taking a bigger step back than before.

"What are you—" Loki didn't have enough time to ask before Thor grabbed his wrist. The younger brother tried to jerk his hand free… but failed.

"Thor, let go!" Loki snarled. He tried again to free himself, but Thor held him in a vice-grip.

"Where did you get this?" Thor asked again. He lifted Loki's wrist causing his sleeve to slip down again. The older brother pointed at the large, purple bruise that went down his forearm.

Loki didn't respond. He knew exactly where that came from. It was from yesterday when he was shot back out of the portal in their second attempt and the time-machine. It was a nasty bruise that had yet to go away. The magic-binding cuffs didn't just drain him of energy and magic, it reduced his healer factor too. But Loki wasn't about to tell Thor that. The fact he was shackled in general made his brother pity him enough.

Loki cursed to himself for letting his guard down. He had to play this off smoothly.

Loki stared at Thor blankly.

"I tripped."

"Why did you not tell me this?!" Thor asked, still upset. At the very least he gave his brother his arm back.

Loki pulled his arm to his chest and held it close like Thor's touch disgusted him. He cocked his brow and couldn't help but give a playful smile.

"Well, I'm telling you now. Am I not?"

"That doesn't count!"

"Norns, Thor!" Loki raised his voice to meet his brother's, "Do you expect me to tell you every time I get the smallest cut?! Last time I checked you are not Mother!"

"I am just having a hard time believing you tripped," Thor retorted.

"What do you think I did then?" Loki yelled back, confused.

Thor didn't back down to him. He stood in place looking down at his brother.

"I am starting to wonder if it is no you," the older god said, "But whom?"

"Do you think someone did this to me?!" Loki, mentally nervous, pretended to be shocked.

"Well, it would not be the other way around as I would have heard about it," Thor explained.

Loki paused and stared at his brother with a straightest of face. It wasn't more than a few seconds before he cracked a smile.

"What is so funny?" Thor looked back at him, dumbfounded. How could this conversation be amusing in the slightest?

"You honestly think your little, mortal friends could hurt me?!" Loki laughed, "Now, Thor, I thought you were smarter than that!"

"On purpose or accident, something hurt you," Thor said, "Why do you hide the truth."

"I'm not! I tripped!" Loki repeated.

He strode past Thor out of the bathroom. Loki wasted no time as he approached the front door and spun around.

"Let us go then," he said, holding up his arms for his brother to attach the chain.

Thor caught up to Loki and, to his brother's surprise, walked past and just opened the door for Loki to walk out. The younger god put down his arms, confused.

"No chains today, I see," he raised a brow.

"Indeed, it seems you have gained much of the Avengers trust with your help," Thor said flatly.

"Then why the face, Brother?" Loki asked before smirking, "Jealous?"

"No, not jealousy…" Thor replied, "Suspicion. You are hiding something, and I do not like it."

"Have a little more faith in me…" Loki said, still smiling. He took up Thor's chivalry and walked out the door, "…your friends sure do."

Thor huffed. Loki's words would not fool him. He would find out the truth sooner or later. The older god jogged to catch his brother, who was already down the hall.

As they walked, they kept quiet. Loki may have appeared calm in the outside but, on the inside, just begged this next test run with the Tesseract will be a success. He didn't need Thor to witness all the drama that's been going on. There's was no telling what the Thunderer would do if he saw it. Loki thought through the possible reactions he might have. The worse would be if he were to drag him back to Asgard as he couldn't trust his friends.

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Tony, Steve, and Bruce all stopped what they were doing when the two brothers entered the lab. Tony was on the ground working on the transport platform with Steve hovering over handing him tools. Bruce was at the main control center writing down Tony's comments on a clipboard.

"Good 'morrow, my friends," Thor waved. In doing so, his arm wrapped around Loki's shoulder and gave him a squeeze. It caused his younger brother to get pulled closer to his sibling with it. Thor ignored the irritated growls from Loki.

Tony crawled out from under the machine and rubbed the grease off his hands on to his pants. They've only been working on the device for a few hours. The self-proclaimed genius had hoped they would have taken a little longer to get down here—Oh well.

"Well, thanks for dropping off baby brother here," Tony said as he walked over to Bruce to look at the notes on the clipboard, "We'll make sure he gets his nap time."

Thor didn't take offense to Tony's distracted mind, or his jab at Loki. Little did his friends know that Thor had other plans for today.

"Actually, I have decided to stay," the Thunderer said.

Tony, Bruce, and Steve all gained immediate attention to Thor after that statement.

"Stay?" Tony repeated in question.

"Yes," Loki added with a grumble. The look he gave the Avengers was very telling that he himself wasn't pleased about the decision, "My brother decided to join us and observe our… progress."

"Oh," Tony replied, swallowing uncomfortably, "Uhh okay, sure…"

"I'm very eager to see what Loki has been up two these past few days," Thor chimed in.

He gave Loki another little side hug in emphasis before continuing.

"From the sounds of it all, it seems you have made great strides with your small Bifrost device."

The three Avengers looked at each other… and each had the same thought. These trials haven't been successful. If today were to backfire again, Thor would see. And if Thor would see the mess that they put Loki through… he would surely strangle each and every one of them.

It was by thinking of Thor's reaction they realized all just how horrible they have been treating Loki. The worse part was Loki just took their abuse.

"It seems you've been working quite hard on it, yes?" Thor asked when no one responded.

"Uhh, yeah," Bruce spoke up. He looked back at the clipboard Tony's hands for something to help him out, "We were just… stabilizing the power connection by building an encasement around the main cable."

Thor seemed pleased with Bruce's explanation. Loki, however, saw right through it. He shook off Thor's arm off his shoulders and approached the Tesseract machine.

"Let us not waste any more time," Loki mumbled.

They all agreed to start the trial. The god was right. They were evading the inevitable. That is unless the Tesseract machine were to work. Tony expressed earlier he was feeling hopeful about it. Bruce still had his skepticisms. Trying to build a device using a seemingly magical cube wasn't a walk in the park. He wished they had listened to Loki in the first place when the god said it could be done. If they did, they wouldn't be in the situation they're in now.

As Loki stepped onto the platform, Bruce could help but notice, ever so slightly, that Loki walked rather gingerly.

This is a bad idea. he said to himself. It's not too late to say something….

Just then, Loki looked over and saw the nervous doctor fidgeting. As Bruce opened his mouth to speak, Loki shook his head. Bruce could see by Loki's face that he knew that he was about to speak up against doing this. It just didn't make sense to him why Loki was doing this to himself?

"Everything good on your end, Brucie?"

Tony's voice pulled Bruce back to reality. His teammate was standing next to him staring at him skeptically. Steve, a few steps back, seemed more in tune with how the doctor was feeling.

"Oh, umm yes," Bruce replied as he pushed numerous buttons on the control pad in front of him, "The battery is stabilized, and the machine is at full-power."

The Tesseract lit up the room as the machine activated. It sent a small pulse of power into the room, causing the lights to flicker once.

"Alright, Twinkle Toes," Tony yelled over the engines, "You know the program. Just get the pear and secure it back."

Loki squinted his eyes at the nickname but nodded, nonetheless.

Easier said than done, mortal. If any of the humans were to have tested this device before me, it was obvious they would have perished. A pity.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his older brother giving him a thumbs up and mouthing, 'Good job!'

A pang of anxiety hit him then: one for what the machine might very well do to him; and second is Thor's reaction afterward. As much as Loki wanted to trust the Avengers fixed the device this time— he couldn't.

The light-emitting off the Tesseract becomes too bright to bare. Everyone shielded their eyes and the revving became louder and louder.

And, with a flash and a bang, Loki was gone.

Thor wasn't expecting Loki to up and disappear. He looked at the empty, smoking platform horrified.

"Where… where is he?" Thor stammered, his eyes widening in fear as he faced his friends.

"It's okay, Thor," Steve came over to calm him "Loki's done this before. He knows what he's doing."

Thor wasn't completely convinced this was a good idea now. He didn't know they were sending Loki places. For all Thor assumed, Loki was just helping build the machine.

Oh, brother. Thor thought. What have you gotten yourself into?

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It was an explosion of bright light and pain as Loki hit the oncoming ground face first. None of his landings have ever been graceful. At the very least, no one was there to witness it.

Upon recovery, to his surprise, he realized landed directly next to the kitchen table. Even better, Loki could see from his spot on the ground, the fruit bowl! Sitting on the very top, as if it were a prized idol, was the pear— that damn pear!

The pain was as unbearable as like last time. His only advantage was the only thing he needed to do was stand up… seems simple enough.

Loki wasted no time pulling his legs under him in a pathetic form of a child's pose in yoga. Using the table leg as support, he pulled himself up. He couldn't help but gasp in pain as the stretching of his body pulled something deep inside of him. It was torture. So, instead, he kept his mind focused on Thor. Pride surprisingly bubbled up inside of him when he imaged Thor patting him on the back as he had returned room from the portal with the pear in hand. The roar of the applause from the Avengers for successfully helping create a functioning mini-Bifrost. Then, Thor's hand would hold Loki's in his own and praise his brother again before unlocking the cuffs. All was forgiving and everything could be back to normal.

That is what he wanted, right? For things to go back to the way they were: before the attack of New York; before Thor's coronation; before… he fell…

His daydreaming fled from him when he got on his knees. Still holding onto the table to stabilize himself, Loki reached up over the tabletop to feel for the bowl; it was fortunate he was so tall. His fingers grazed over the edge of the bowl. Loki tried to continue to try to pull himself up with his other hand. Another pain surged through him causing his hand on the table leg to slip. As he crumbled back on the ground, his other hand ended up pulling the bowl with him and spilling its contents. Fruit rolled in all directions onto the table and falling onto the floor. Loki just laid there with his eyes screwed shut in rage.

I failed… again. What will Thor think? Maybe he'll be sent back to Asgard for his failure to do anything right. Loki will just waste away in the dungeons in the bowels of the place for the rest of his days.

It was then the god felt something bump his arm, he snapped his eyes open immediately. Laying there, right in front of him, was the pear. Out of all the directions the fruit rolled about, it was the pear that came to a stop right in front of him.

Loki couldn't believe it. Immediately, he grabbed the fruit in a death grip. He wasn't about to lose it now.

With only the little strength he had left, Loki pushed himself back on his feet. He hoped that he would at least stay upright when he reappeared back at the tower.

In a matter of seconds, Loki was engulfed in the bright blue light and vanished.

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The first sense Loki got that he returned was the familiar sizzling sound of the transport device powering down again. It was a surprise to him he was still standing after this test. The transport podium let off a lot of steam and smoke, surrounding Loki for a minute.

The pear! Loki immediately thought to himself.

He looked down and noticed, through the smoke, his hand was still fisted. It took all the energy he had left to lift his arm and unclench his fist. And sitting there, in the palm of his hand, wasn't a full pear… but four tiny seeds. Loki knew for a fact he never let go of it.

What—?

Loki had no time to ponder the reasoning behind the change before another surge of familiar pain hit him again, causing him to double-over. The seeds slipped out of his hand, scattering along the platform below. One arm clutched his stomach while the other held steadily on his thigh from preventing him from crumbling over completely.

Nobody saw the events that just happened as the smoke and bright lights finally dissipated to reveal Loki's arrival from the Avengers. All they saw was the god hunched over in a seemingly extreme amount of pain.

Thor was the first to speak up. He made his way forward to get a better look.

"Loki?"

Loki started to sway. His legs trembled as he fought to stay upright. He placed his hand to his head as black spots danced in his vision. The nausea returned full force, but the god desperately tried to swallow it back down.

No, not here… not now. Loki tried so hard to make sure none of this happened when Thor was around.

"Loki, brother, are you okay?" Thor asked. He was standing at the bottom of the platform, inching closer a little seeing Loki's stance looked unstable.

"I-I just need to… sit d-down…" that all Loki was able to fumble out before his legs gave way and everything went black. Thankfully, a pair of strong hands caught him before he hit the floor. Thor had burst forward at the last second.

The older brother gently bent down and settled his sibling in his arms on to the floor. Loki's head lolled unconsciously to the side limply as he did so.

"Loki?! Loki?!" Thor shook him carefully to try to rouse him. His attempts were for nothing as Loki failed to wake.

The other Avengers ran over quickly and circled the two on the floor. Bruce knelt down, ignoring his usual fear of touching Loki, and put two fingers on his neck.

A pulse! Bruce exhaled in relief. Thank goodness!

"Why did this happen!?" Thor panicked as Bruce pulled away. Even though the doctor stated his brother had a steady pulse, Thor was still rightfully horrified to this ordeal.

"Has this happened before!?" he asked again with urgency.

The other three Avengers anxiously shifted in their spots as their friend turned to each of them for answers.

"Well, I mean, he's puked before… but never passed out," Tony shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, effectively putting his foot in his mouth.

Thor whipped his head directly to Stark, not expecting that to come out of his mouth. Not only that, but both Bruce and Steve also glared daggers at the so-called "genius" as well.

"My brother got ill?!" Thor gaped, then quickly grew furious, "When?!"

Tony flinched and realized he shouldn't have opened his big mouth.

"Oh, umm… well," he fumbled his words to get some sort of explanation out.

"What is the meaning of this!?" the thunder god roared causing the three to flinch again. The mortals' attempts at hiding secrets were becoming obvious. It was clear now that they were involved in Loki's odd behavior lately.

"Thor," Bruce called out to gain his attention, still examining Loki, "We need to focus."

Both Thor and Tony immediately snapped their mouths shut and turned to the doctor.

Steve, who has said nothing out of pure shock of the situation, stood on anxiously.

"How can we help?" the Captain asked.

Bruce saw the sweat forming on Loki's brow. He could already tell by feeling his pulse that he was abnormally hot. According to Thor, the god already was supposed to run very cold due to his heritage…

Bruce pushed himself up and looked at Thor.

"We need to take him to the sickbay."

Thor quickly responded and bundled up his Loki in his arms. It terrified him just how light he has gotten.

Together, they all rush to the tower's infirmary.

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Next Chapter: Is There a Doctor in the House?

Word Count: 4,378

Written On: 1-1-20

Updated On: 8-6-20

Posted On: 0-0-20