A/N: And thus, life continues to destroy me and take away all interest in things I love to do... I'll just blame 2020.
This was supposed to be one long chapter, (coupled with the previous one) but it ended up being waaay too long. I prefer chapters around 5k words. Although sometimes you are at the mercy of the plot to cut it shorter or make it longer.
Xo Anonymityofaturtle
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{Previously}
"We need to take him to the sickbay."
Thor quickly responded and bundled up his brother in his arms. It terrified him just how light he has gotten.
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"Lay him down on the bed," Bruce instructed as they entered through the infirmaries sliding glass doors.
Thor quickly walked past with his brother still cradled in his arms. He wasted no time gently lowering him on the empty hospital bed in the center of the room. The rest of the room was stacked with dusty medical machines they never used since Stark had bought them after the Chitauri attack. Bruce was the one that stated it was good to have these just in case. He was right… it may have been a while, but they did need them now.
Bruce came to stand next to the bed; unlike Steve and Tony stayed right at the doors, too nervous to come in any further.
"Help me get his shirt off," Bruce said to Thor, "I want to get some vitals."
Thor nodded and quickly came in closer. He carefully lifted Loki's upper half. He was wearing a V-neck, long sleeve shirt so Bruce has to maneuver it up and over Loki's head. The unconscious god let out a moan in pain but didn't wake up.
"Rest, Brother," Thor tried to comfort him as he laid him back down, "Dr. Banner will help you."
Whether or not his brother heard, he didn't respond and stayed limp in Thor's arms.
Now the Bruce had a better look at what he was dealing with, he couldn't help but to notice just how thin Loki had gotten. His ribs and collarbone stuck out prominently under his, almost translucent, skin. Bruce knew Loki always was a slender build… but he looked quite sickly laying there.
"Has he been eating?" Bruce looked up to Thor and asked. After Loki's first fiasco with not eating, the god was a lot more compliant. It also helped that his older brother made it his life's mission to keep him fed. So why is he so skinny?
"Yes… but not much," Thor answered, "He claims he has not been feeling well lately."
Bruce could see in the corner of his eye that Steve and Tony starring anxiously back at him from that comment.
"And it seems there is more to it than I have been told," Thor added, his voice dropping a few octaves.
Bruce paused but didn't respond. He focused instead on pulling out the needed medical supplies to start testing Loki. This awkward conversation they eventually will need to have will have to wait; the patient comes first. Bruce already clipped on a blood oxygen pulse reader to Loki's finger and a temperature gauge to another. Next, he started setting up the sticky pads for the heart monitor.
Hopefully, his anatomy is similar. Bruce thought to himself. He was surprised that he never had to do this to Thor but, then again, Thor was pretty much indestructible. Bruce originally thought of Loki the same way too, but now…
After he placed the last sticky pads on Loki's chest, Bruce couldn't help but notice an odd scar next to one of them on his chest. Then, he noticed another next to it… and another. Bruce's face paled as he realized Loki's whole body was covered in these fine, hairline scars. The marks spotted his chest and ran down his arms. Bruce feared if he were to remove the god's trousers that they would be down his legs too.
"Where did all these scars come from?!" Bruce's eyes were wider than saucers. Did we do this?! No, we couldn't have! Could we?
The doctor wracked his brain on how the Tesseract machine did this to him. Thankfully, before he could work himself into too much of a panic, Thor spoke up.
"I do not know where the scars came from, but they were not there before the Chitauri attack. I noticed them on him after he was recaptured and returned to Asgard. He refused to even acknowledge them."
Bruce let off a quiet sigh of relief. He felt bad doing so in some respects. Although they were not responsible for these past injuries… someone was. The question was who?
The matter had to be brushed aside. More things were important right now. Whatever Loki was going through right now was his fault.
"I'm staring him on an IV," Bruce said, already pulling out the necessary instruments.
"An eye-vee?" Thor asked nervously. He leaned on the bed as his friend worked on the opposite side.
Bruce forgot how foreign Earth medicine was to the god. Asgard seemed like a primitive place from Thor's questions, but he also proudly talked about its vast technological advancements as well. Maybe Bruce would be able to visit this magical realm someday.
"It's okay," Bruce explained, "I just put this needle into a vein in his arm. It will help hydrate him and, hopefully, relieve some of these symptoms."
Bruce felt pretty embarrassed on just how hard it was to insert the needle into Loki's arm. The god's veins were hair-thin from dehydration. That and Loki's skin seemed denser than a humans. A few attempts later and Bruce ended up putting the IV in the crook of Loki's elbow instead. Once it was tapped down, he grabbed a chilled bag of saline to insert to help with the mild fever. While doing that, Bruce instructed Thor to retrieve a dampened rag to rest on his brother's forehead.
All the machines now were recording present vitals. Heartrate was slightly elevated, as well as his temperature, but otherwise, there were no other indicators of serious problems. It made the mystery of why Loki was, and is, still unconscious all the more of a mystery.
Now that Loki seemed stable enough, Bruce needed to figure out how to do damage control with Thor. To do that, he needed to get Steve and Tony to follow him out of the sickbay. They all needed to talk.
"I misplaced something in the lab," Bruce carefully lied. He turned to the other two human Avengers, "Tony? Steve? Can you help me find it?"
When Tony and Steve were quick to catch on and nodded. They saw their friends look and immediately knew they needed to follow him- right now. The two followed Bruce quickly without any words. Before they exited the infirmary, Bruce turned to Thor before the god could speak his concerns of him leaving Loki alone.
"Don't worry," he said softly, "We'll be right back."
Once the infirmary door was securely closed behind them, and they were down the hall a ways, Bruce spun around to face his two teammates. That calm, cool façade he put up in front of Thor melted away.
"Tony," Bruce hissed quietly, "I told you these tests were too risky!"
Tony put up his hands quickly in defense, not quite sure how to react to his friend's quick change.
"Hey! How was I supposed to know this was going to happen?!"
"Well, if the first few times weren't enough of a sign!"
"Well, you guys didn't stop me!" Tony snapped back.
"This was all your idea in the first place!" Bruce retorted, the veins in his neck bulged and started to tint a dark green.
Steve's eyes widened as he caught sight of Bruce's color change. He immediately jumped in between the two men to deescalate the situation before things could get any worse.
"Okay, okay. Let's all calm down now!" Steve put a hand on each of the men's shoulders to separate them.
It took a minute, but the tension seemed to lighten up. Bruce, aware of his rising anger, stepped back and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. The situation was bad enough, the Hulk making an appearance would only make things ten times worse.
"Maybe this isn't as bad as it seems," Steve continued and looked back and forth at Bruce and Tony, "If Thor said Loki hasn't been eating, maybe he just passed out from exhaustion; not anything we did. This whole paranoia might be for nothing."
The other two Avengers soon looked deep in thought, as they took in Steve's words.
"I mean it could be…" Bruce said. He rubbed his chin, "But how do we know he wasn't eating before the trials or the trials caused him to not eat?"
Steve shrugged, "Well, that we will just need to ask him when he wakes up."
Tony showed a little more relief than Bruce knowing this might possibly not be their fault.
"But" the Captain added, "We still need to tell Thor the truth of us using Loki as a test subject.
Bruce quietly nodded, agreeing. Tony, on the other hand, looked genuinely worried to do so.
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With two against one for Tony, it was decided that they head back to the infirmary and immediately be upfront with Thor about the truth. When they walked back in, the three Avengers tried their best to keep a neutral face and not show any nervousness as they approached Thor.
The Thunder god was right where they left him, sitting next to his brother's side tending sibling with a wet cloth on his forehead. Loki looked no better as when they had left him; still pale and unconscious as before.
It was the Captain that stepped forward first.
"Thor," he announced, "We… need to talk to you something."
Thor stood and turned to face them squarely, displeasure was already clearly written on his face. It was obvious to them Thor had already been suspicious of the matter.
Steve swallowed nervously but continued.
"We haven't been completely truthful about what's been going on while you've been away with Jane."
Thor didn't seem surprised in the slightest. Steve could see the tension in the god's jaw as he looked down at him.
"I have been suspecting that," Thor responded with an angry tone.
"…we should sit down to discuss this," Steve suggested calmly. He thought that maybe that would break Thor's tension a little.
The god squinted his eyes suspiciously but agreed to sit. While Thor already had his chair next to Loki, the other three Avengers pulled up chairs. It was going to be a long explanation. They proceeded to tell Thor the truth about each of the experiments and how Loki agreed to test them. Thor, though clearly upset, sat quietly, and let his three friends explain that they exploited his brother's vulnerable situation.
"I tested it with other objects before trying it with Loki, and it worked fine," Tony commented quickly after they finished telling the story.
"And every time he didn't seem too well after a test, we tried to help him out, but he refused it," Bruce added.
"Yeah," Tony nodded back nervously, "He made it sound like a no-big-deal… so we continued the project."
"But clearly we were wrong to not stop after the first time," Steve said to finish the statement.
There was a pause as Thor sunk in this information.
"So, it is true," the god mumbled, more to himself than to the others, "You are the ones who gave him the injury."
"Injury!?" Bruce repeated, confused. He never remembered Loki getting any type of physical injury.
Thor leaned to the right as his body semi-obstructed their view of his brother. The way Loki's arm was positioned gave them a clear view of the nasty purple blotch on his arm.
Another silence fell over the room.
"It must have been when the portal shot him back out…" Tony said as he looked back on the events.
So, he did indeed fall. Thor thought to himself. My brother was very clever in wording it the way he did in making it seem as if an accident.
The god turned to face the Captain. It was clear the next statement was for him.
"Is that why you offered to make Loki food then, Captain? Because of this guilt, you hold?"
"Yes," Steve admitted, his shoulders slouched heavy with that exact guilt, "I felt bad for what he was going through. I wanted to show appreciation and help him feel better."
The thunder god stood up abruptly, causing all the humans to flinch. Rage and disgust were clearly written on his face. Even the rumble of thunder could even be heard outside the tower.
"I put great trust in you all to watch over my brother!" Thor roared, "And what do you do? But use him!"
Steve stood and put his hands up in a calming measure- he was doing that a lot today. He expected this coming but knew there would be almost nothing to stop Thor's rage.
"Thor, I understand. You have every right to be angry and we—" he tried to get a word in, but Thor cut him off.
"Loki's punishment was to repent for his crimes and rehabilitate him!"
Another crack of lightning caused them all to jump again.
"We know! And we realize now how much we messed up! But you got to understand that—" Bruce attempted to add but Thor still wasn't having it.
"I'm going outside!" the thunder god declared, "I must speak to Heimdall of this matter. Surely, my father knowing this will let Loki do his service somewhere where he is safe!"
"Thor, wait!" Bruce got up and called after him, but Thor pushed past them and was already out the door. He disappeared deep into the halls with the sound of his boots still stomping away heavily.
Bruce looked back at his two colleagues. Steve was standing there in shock while Tony awkwardly leaned in his chair.
"Well, it could have been worse," Tony declared sarcastically, "We're all still alive at least."
There was a small silence before Steve broke it.
"Heimdall..." Steve muttered in thought, "I've heard that name before."
"It's the name of that guy with the 'All-Seeing-Sight' or whatever," Tony answered back. It was hard to forget some dude who has watch over the whole galaxy. To Stark, it was almost like a superhuman JARVIS in a way of surveillance.
The statement caused Bruce to start pacing. He ran his fingers through his hair out of nervous habit.
"Who knows what's going to happen if Thor convinces his father to allow Loki to come back to Asgard," Bruce added in with an anxious hum, "Will we be punished for obstructing Loki's sentence?"
"All-Daddy could take back the Tesseract," Tony pointed out, "I mean, the only reason he lent it to us was in exchange for carrying out Loki's sentence."
Bruce only started to pace faster.
"If we lose the Tesseract... we are losing this breakthrough technology to help us prevent an attack like the Chitauri's in the future," he said, "This is very well life-saving, world-saving work here."
A hand rested on Bruce's shoulder to stop his pacing.
"You're right. This is too important. We have to go after him," Steve stated looking back and forth between his two colleagues, "Bruce, you stay and watch Loki. Tony and I will try to reason with Thor."
Bruce nodded agreeing.
Tony groaned and stood up, "Ugh, fine!"
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[10 minutes later]
Loki woke up to a massive headache. The lights were blindingly bright above his head so that
he could barely open his eyes.
These are not the lights in the lab… Loki thought. The lab lights were long and gave off a warmed glow. These were bright spotlights almost.
It was then he became more aware of his surroundings. He was curled up on something soft and comfortable. The odd sound of beeping machines repeated in a rhythmic fashion. The room smelled so… sterile. It was unlike the lab that reeked of grease and oil.
Loki struggled to push himself up onto his forearms. The motion caused his headache to worsen and nausea to start. The god immediately closed his eyes and couldn't suppress the miserable moan that escaped his lips.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
Loki stiffened. His eyes immediately snapped open to realizing that someone was in the room with him. He quickly turned his head towards the voice. The motion made his vision blur before his eyes finally settled on the person. It was Banner. The human stood up out of a nearby chair and walked towards him.
Bruce flinched at Loki's abrupt movement.
"Whoa!" he held up his hands, "Calm down… it's just me."
"Where am I?" the god demanded breathlessly. Why did he feel so exhausted?
Bruce walked over to the side of the hospital bed. Loki didn't like that and leaned away. The heart monitor he was strapped to started to pace faster. Bruce stopped immediately upon noticing.
"You're in towers infirmary," he explained, "You passed out in the lab."
"Passed out?" Loki repeated quietly. He wracked his brain to try to remember the events. The memories were fuzzy. Before he was transported was clear in his mind, but the events after weren't so much. Loki remembered Thor stayed in the tower today, but he couldn't recall if he were present in the lab or not during this incident.
"Don't tell Thor," Loki quickly spat out.
"Well, I would if I could…" Bruce rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "But he was sort of there when this whole thing happened."
Loki closed his eyes to hold back the frustration boiling within him before slumping his shoulders in defeat. He wondered how Thor reacted- probably overdramatically like always.
It then dawned on him Thor wasn't even in the room.
"Thor," the god said looking around, "Where is he now?"
"Well… we had to tell him about what's going on," Bruce confessed and gestured casually out the infirmary doors, "Clearly, he's upset and left."
"Left to where?" Loki asked suspiciously.
"He said something about speaking to 'Heimdall'," Bruce explained.
"Heimdall…" Loki muttered under his breath. He knew it meant Thor was going to speak to Heimdall and try to take him back? Escape was futile in Asgard. On Midgard, however, his plans could still work. Loki realized he had to defend the mortal's actions to be able to stay here. If he failed, he'd be stuck in Asgard's dungeons being watched by at least a three-dozen guards at a time.
He needed to talk to Thor- and fast.
"How do you feel?" the mortal spoke up, causing Loki to be pulled from his thoughts.
"Fine," he replied, fast and blunt.
"Well… that's good to hear," Bruce said, not believing him in the slightest, "We'll do some tests to figure out what keeps causing your—"
"That will not be necessary, Doctor."
Bruce was taken back by Loki's quick refusal.
"Well, you think that… but I don't think you understa— Wait?! What are you doing?!"
Loki looked up at Bruce, annoyed. He had already swung his feet off the side of the bed and was dangling them over the floor. The pain was excruciating but still tolerable at this point.
"Leaving," the god stated before he pushed himself up off the bed.
Loki landed on his feet but the horrible tugging pain in his stomach get ten times worse. He let out a pained gasp as his legs gave out from it all. Thankfully, Bruce was right there and caught him before he hit the ground; close enough so all the machines the god was still attached to didn't topple over with him.
"Whoa, hey there?! Take it easy!" Bruce insisted after catching him. He wasn't expecting Loki to drop so fast.
Rather than responding to Bruce, Loki was too busy fighting the urge not to pass out again from the pain. He just dangled helplessly in the doctor's arms as he tried to recover, chest heaving heavily as he tried to get his feet to listen and get back under him. The god never expected he couldn't stand at all; hunch maybe but walk.
While Loki was too incapacitated to move, it took Bruce no effort to lift his weight back into the bed. His lanky body made it awkward to pick him up, but he was far too light. With no way to resist, the god flopped onto the bed like a rag doll and waited for the nausea to stop. At that time, Bruce took notice of Loki's throat working overtime to swallow.
"Do you feel like you're going to throw up?" Bruce asked. He quickly walked over to a nearby table and grabbed an emesis basin just in case. Last time he wasn't prepared for that. This time he was.
Loki swallowed again hard and shook his head slowly— oh no, he wasn't about to let that happen again.
Bruce looked over him to make sure nothing was messed up. Thankfully, everything stayed connected to the god and all the machines were okay.
"Are you alright?" Bruce asked. He gave up on trying to push aside any compassion for Loki. This 'Loki' seemed like a whole new Loki to him. That scary, blue twinkle in his eyes was gone from when they first encountered him. They were replaced with vivid, green ones instead. Bruce didn't know if that had any correlation, but it was something he did notice when Loki returned with his brother. He didn't put much thought to it… maybe he should have?
Loki grimaced in a mix of pain and agitation. He didn't listen to what Banner was saying. Instead, he was just too focused on not getting sick.
"I shouldn't have done that," Loki couldn't help but moan out as his breathing finally calmed.
"Yeah…," Bruce replied, trying to hold back the urge to scold the god for his recklessness, "I don't recommend standing anytime soon."
The doctor's face softened when Loki exhibited a surge of pain, causing him to curl in on himself even more. Bruce was starting to worry that maybe he couldn't help the poor man. Hopefully, Loki will, at least, answer a few questions to help him figure it out.
"Don't try too hard to push yourself to remember," he said, "But do you recall what happened?"
"I went through the portal," Loki reluctantly replied before swallowing again, "I came back… but something felt… wrong."
There was a pause.
"The pear!" Loki gasped at the realization that the fruit was not with him. It was still in the lab. The god struggled to get his hands under himself to push up. He needed to get that pear! He needed it to prove he succeeded!
"Whoa, whoa! Hey, calm down," Bruce ran up to him, not thinking, and tried to push him to lay back down. The gesture got a warning growl from Loki.
"I'll have someone get it, okay?! Just stay here," the doctor ushered him to lie down.
It was strange. Bruce didn't remember seeing Loki holding anything when he reappeared. That, and why was the god so hellbent on getting it now?
Loki finally collapsed back into the bed exhausted. As much as he wanted to defy the mortal, his body listened to him.
"Did you have this feeling before with the other attempts?" Bruce continued his investigation on Loki's health. The whole 'pear thing' could wait until Loki was better.
"Yes, but not this bad," Loki answered quietly. These questions were already annoying him. All he wanted was to go to his chambers and sleep. He didn't need the human's help or their pity.
"Well," Bruce prodded, "Why didn't you say something?"
The question insulted Loki. Was he really being scorned by the mortal? In agony or not, Loki wasn't going to lay there and take it.
"It does not matter! Realm jumping is never pleasant!" he spat with more energy than he thought he had, "Why would you care anyway? Still afraid to lose your test subject?!"
"Where did you get those scars?" Bruce asked out of the blue.
The question threw Loki off guard. He didn't quite know if he heard him correctly.
"Th- what?"
"Those scars," Bruce repeated and pointed to the god's chest, "They're all over your body."
Loki struggled to look down at his chest as he was curled up so tight. He realized he was shirtless and cursed himself for being so oblivious to not even notice. How did he not feel the wires coming off of him? The pain must have been occupying all his senses. Loki felt more exposed than ever now. Exposed… and cornered.
"It is none of your concern," he growled.
"Did you get them from the tests?" Bruce asked.
"No," Loki replied quick and blunt, "That is all I will tell you."
Loki went to sit up to pull the accursed wires off of him. He only got to about his forearms when the pain caused him to double back over with a hiss.
Bruce came closer to him and inspected his patient. It became obvious the pain was centered on his abdominal. Every time Loki tried to unravel himself it seemed to worsen. Nonetheless, he wanted to hear Loki's own words of description.
"Can you point to where it's hurting?" Bruce asked, waiting for him to comply.
"I don't need your charity," Loki hissed through clenched teeth.
"Well, is there anything I can do to help you?" he responded professionally.
"I could heal myself with my magic if I had these cuffs off," the god spat back before eyeing the metal bands on each wrist.
Bruce was surprised. He hadn't thought of that. Loki's magic was strong. No doubt it would be able to heal whatever it is the ails him. But he knew that taking off the cuffs will cause other problems. That, and Bruce literally couldn't take them off- only Thor could remove the enchanted metal.
"Unfortunately, that's not under my jurisdiction…" Bruce said, which was correct. It was the responsibility of Thor and of Asgard to allow the magic bindings to be removed.
Loki scoffed, "Then step aside so I may see Thor."
The doctor frowned. Did he seriously just forget he can't walk?
"I'd love to see you try to do that… being you can't stand."
Loki responded with a death glare to the mortal.
"How about I help you back to your room instead," Bruce offered.
Loki laid there, staring at the doctor but was clearly trying to figure out how to respond. Yes, he would love to get out of this horrid room, but he wanted to see Thor more.
"Fine," Loki accepted, "As long as Thor knows I wish to see him immediately."
"Deal," Bruce nodded, relieved they're coming to somewhat of a closure, "I'll let you go, but you have to agree to just one more thing."
"I assume I have no choice in the matter," the god said, his lip curling in an irritated snarl.
Bruce fumbled, "I mean… not really."
Loki rolled his eyes, "What are your demands then?"
"Why do make me sound so evil?!" the doctor groaned. It was increasingly hard to stay in Loki's company for so long.
"You are—" Loki started.
"Eat!" Bruce cut him off before he could finish, "That's all I want!"
"You are… jesting?" the god blinked suspiciously.
"Your body is malnourished right now. All I ask is that you eat and drink whatever Thor brings you tonight," Bruce said, "It's the least you can do to make yourself better."
Loki glared at him but deep down… deep down he knew the man was right. Banner may be a mortal, but he was also a healer.
"If that means I get to leave this disgusting room and have your machines removed from me…," lol responded before wrinkling god noise in disgust, "Then fine."
"Yes, of course," Bruce quickly assured him, "Then I'll take the wires of-"
He was cut short as his patient already started to peel the sticky pads from his chest in a painful display of independence.
"Here, let me—" Bruce tried to add, but he already pulled off the last one.
Loki went for the IV next before the doctor panicked and called out louder.
"Wait!"
To his surprise, Loki did stop. The god stared at him annoyed but curious about the human's panic.
"Unless you want blood spraying everywhere, you'll let me do that one."
Bruce could see Loki's jaw clenched tighter. To his surprise, the god was able to finally push himself up and sit with his legs crisscrossed on the bed. His posture, however, was poor as Loki folded in on himself to ease the tugging pain.
Loki held out his arm with the IV still attached.
"Do what you must…" he said flatly.
Bruce nodded and finished removing the IV.
Steve conveniently came back in- oddly enough without Thor or Tony. The captain saw Loki sitting still with Bruce right next to him. He was surprised to see the god so compliant… very guarded but compliant.
"Oh, you're awake," Steve said, surprised to see Loki conscious after all of this.
After taping a cotton ball to the injection site of the IV, Bruce turned to see Steve in relief.
"Oh, good timing. Can you help me get Loki to his room?" he asked, gesturing to his patient still sitting awkwardly on the bed.
Loki snapped his head in the doctor's direction with disgust.
"Oh… sure," Steve agreed reluctantly. He didn't exactly know what entailed with that request.
The god eyed Steve for only a second before turning back to Bruce.
"I do not need help! I am no invalid!" Loki stated as if he thought otherwise was an insult.
"Of course, you're not. You're just hurt," Bruce responded calmly, "So Steve's just going to carry you, or I can see if Tony has a wheelchair, so you won't injure your-"
"NO!" Loki screamed before he could finish.
"Really. It's okay, Loki," Steve chimed in. He tried walking towards the god slowly, "I'll be careful. I promise. I've had to help transport many injured soldiers through battlefields."
"GET NEAR ME AND I WILL CUT YOU!" Loki hissed. He tried his best to look threatening as he desperately tried to uncross his legs without hurting himself further.
Bruce wasn't going to deal with this now. He already had far too much time dealing with Loki for one day.
"Fine. Fine. Steve, can you watch him?" Bruce asked already walking out the door, "I'll go find Thor."
The Captain nodded, but Bruce was already gone.
"And I don't need watching!" Loki called out after him to make a point.
Steve watched Bruce leave before turning back to Loki. Still in the bed, the god glared back at him fuming. Steve didn't dare move any closer to him… but he had to say something.
"Loki, I…."
"Whatever pathetic excuse of an apology you decide to use will not work," Loki snapped.
Steve bit the inside of his cheek. He took a breath before continuing.
"I don't expect you to forgive me. I just want you to know we were all in the wrong."
"We should have never treated you like that…" he continued, "No matter our past encounters. And for that, I am sorry."
"Tony and Bruce feel bad too," the captain added again, "I promise we'll make it up to you."
Loki then realized that it worked. They finally trusted him and/or now they owe him a debt. He was a step closer to freeing himself from this life as a slave.
"It will not be easy to win me over," the god said mockingly.
Before Steve could convince him any further, Bruce came back with both Thor and Tony in tow.
"Brother, you're awake!" Thor exclaimed. The god looked quite relieved as he ran up to his brother's side, "How do you feel?"
"Fine," Loki answered quickly again.
"Good," Thor's face hardened, "Now we can talk about the more pressing matter."
Clearly, Thor meant he wanted to discuss why Loki had been keeping a secret about the experiments all along. The problem was… was that Loki didn't want an audience. He was rather in a good place with the mortals— they now owed him for their mistakes. Loki didn't want any words he said to Thor to accidentally change that.
"I would rather take the conversation to my chambers," Loki said, "Banner allowed me to leave this pathetic excuse for a healing rooms."
"Very well. Let us get you back to your own bed," Thor replied with a soft smile.
"Fine," the younger god sighed lightly as he tried to untangle his legs from underneath himself without wincing too much, "Just move out of the way so I can climb dow-."
Loki had no time to finish as Thor's hands moved under Loki's legs and back. He easily lifted his far-too-light-of-a brother into the air. Loki couldn't help but let out a small yelp in response.
"Thor, you big oaf!" Loki sputtered before commanding, "Put me down!"
"Banner says you were too weak to stand earlier," Thor looked down at Loki matter-of-factly.
"I'm not weak!" he spat but couldn't hide the tinge of pink in embarrassment on his cheeks, "And second, I will be the judge of that!"
Thor looked to Bruce for approval. The doctor only scratched the back of his neck and shrugged.
"Very well," Thor sighed as he carefully lowered his brother to the ground to stand feet first.
Loki, satisfied at first to be let down, immediately regretted it and stumbled forward in obvious pain. If it were not for Thor grabbing his waist, he would have fallen face-first into the floor. At that point, Bruce had also run up to steady him, but Thor was faster.
The younger god was able to keep his feet planted on the floor, unlike the first time; however, he would no doubt fall if Thor let go.
"Loki?!" Thor gasped immediately upon catching him.
"I'm fine!" Loki hissed out angry through a heavy exhale. He couldn't help but too close his eyes in the sheer embarrassment of being too weak to even stand in front of all the Avengers.
"Maybe we should have you stay here," Bruce added in, "That way I can—."
"I said, I'm fine!" Loki spat out too quickly.
Thor scooped his brother back into his arms without any warning. This was far too humiliating for Loki to bare. He could feel the other Avengers staring on. Loki cursed and tried to resist by arching his back. He immediately regretted it as a sharp pain shot through his abdominal. Loki cried out and curled tightly into the tiniest ball possible in Thor's arms to relieve the pain.
"You are too stubborn for your own good, brother," Thor muttered down at his sibling.
Loki didn't respond verbally other than just panting in pain.
"I have it from here," the thunder god called out to his friends. It was now time to have a private chat with his brother.
The humans didn't say anything as the brothers left the room. Once they were far enough down the hall to be out of earshot of the mortals, Thor couldn't wait any longer to get answers out of Loki.
"Now we can talk," Thor said.
"N-no," Loki strained to say as he tried to recover from wriggling so much before, "I want to wait until we are completely in my chambers."
"No more stalling," Thor said roughly and stopped walking, "Either we stand here and talk or talk while walking back to your room. No exceptions."
"Fine," Loki huffed. He was hardly in any position to demand right now as he was still cradled in his brother's arms like some sort of child.
If anything, Loki wanted to get their first question in.
"Banner said you left to try and contact Heimdall," he recalled.
Thor started walking again and didn't look down.
"I did," he said with a straight face.
"Why?" Loki asked. He already has thoughts of why, but he wanted to hear it from Thor's point of view.
"So, I could take you back and you could finish your sentence in Asgard," Thor explained.
It was just as Loki had feared. Just as he was getting good grounds to escape one dungeon, he was being dragged back to the other.
"Did they respond?" the younger brother asked curiously.
"No," Thor frowned, "I know Heimdall heard me… and father must know."
"—but they can care less," Loki finished.
"No, that mustn't be the reason," the older brother quickly defended, looking at his brother.
The brothers were silent for a time as they rode the elevator back up.
"Do you have a better excuse for them?" Loki asked as they exited through the lift's doors.
"They must not think it is dire enough to change the upper sentence…" Thor responded hesitantly.
"Good," Loki said with a slight scoff, "I don't want to go back."
Thor stopped walking and looked back down at Loki, shocked.
"But… you stated you hated it here?!"
"Of course, I hate it here," Loki shrugged, "But it is far better than the dungeons of Asgard."
"Father would not put you back in the dungeons," the older stated swiftly.
"So, adamant in your statement— I contest."
"Loki…" Thor warned. He finally could see where this was going. His was trying to redirect the topic,
They finally made it to Loki's room. Thor went straight to the bed and carefully laid his brother down. Loki didn't resist his gentle touch, instead, he focused on staying curled up so the pain would stay at a dull roar.
"So," Thor said and stood once his brother was settled, "Are you going to tell me anything about the events that have been happening? Or are we just to argue?"
"What do you want me to say?!" Loki looked up at his brother towering over him, "That your mortal friends hurt me?!"
"They did," the Thunderer stated.
"Non-intentionally," Loki countered, "I agreed to their matters. I never told them to stop."
"They should have… and they should have informed me."
"They're mortals, Thor," the younger god barked back, "Of course, they make stupid decisions! Do you know anything about Midgardian history?!"
"Though I do not, how can I trust that this all won't happen again."
"It won't," Loki stated, "Trust me."
Thor let out a hardy chuckle. The laugh got a harsh glare from his brother.
"I'm sorry," Thor responded, "But, you must admit, those are words I rarely hear out of you."
Loki rolled his eyes and rested his head back down on the bed. It felt terribly comfortable compared to the stiff bed of the sickbay. He let out the slightest sigh of relief to finally be back in here.
It was then Thor noticed just how tired his younger brother was.
"Rest here while I get you some supper," the older god said.
Loki has no problem complying with that order. No moving meant no pain— to the most part. His only fear was he'd fall asleep before Thor would even be back. So, Loki made the horrible decision to sit up against the pillows.
The task was painfully harder than it sounded. Dragging his body up to lay propped up against the pillows, Loki looked absolutely pitiful doing it. He was thankful Thor wasn't here to see it.
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Thor returned rather quickly, carrying a small, steaming bowl.
"Again, with the Midgardian soups?" Loki groaned as Thor sat in the chair beside the bed.
"Dr. Banner said it has good nutrients to help—"
"Yes, yes, to help me," the younger brother rolled his eyes.
Thor picked up the spoon and scooped up a small amount of broth. The action made Loki looked at his brother suspiciously.
"Put the spoon down, lest you wish to lose that hand," Loki threatened bluntly.
"I just wished to help," Thor smiled meekly.
"I have no issue feeding myself, Thor."
Thor looked down defeated, "Oh, alright then."
The blonde placed the spoon back in the bowl of soup. He carefully helped Loki take the bowl and put it on his lap.
"I also wish to eat alone," Loki added.
"Alone?" Thor asked.
"Yes. Is that asking too much?" the younger frowned.
"I don't think I can trust that you will eat," Thor countered.
"I will," Loki sighed, "I am… far too tired to fight all your pointless rules right now."
Thor also let out a tired sigh and stood from the chair.
"Very well… but you know JARVIS will alert me if you lie."
Loki sneered at the ceiling, "I have no doubt he will."
The older brother made his way to the bedroom door. Before closing it, Thor looked back at Loki on the bed.
"Good night, brother."
Loki tried to hold back his disgust as Thor's "hurt puppy face" was painfully hard to be mad at.
"Good night… Thor," he mumbled back as nicely as he could.
To his relief, Thor gave a small smile back before closing the door.
Loki finally turned his attention to the food. The steamy, golden broth looked far from appetizing— even if it was just broth. Thankfully, it was a small bowl. There was no way he could eat that much after the past few days. Loki took his time eating. As basic as it was, it helped ease his nausea.
Next, he needed to figure out what to do. Glaring down at the now-empty bowl in his hands, he saw the chain-less cuffs still on him.
If these were gone, I would have been able to heal myself by now.
Tomorrow, I will try to convince Thor to remove these. If not, his friends might very well.
This very well could be my chance to escape.
Setting the bowl on the nearby nightstand, Loki withdrew into the safety of his covers. A slight tug of pain sparked in his stomach from moving. But the final result of his cocoon of soft sheets was worth it.
Jarvis dimmed the lights. It didn't take long for the exhaustion of today to pull him off to sleep.
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A/N: Finally getting into the meat of the story.
The next chapter is already about… 1/3 written.
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Next Chapter: Four and a Half Men
Word Count: 7,126
Started On: 1-1-20
Updated On: 11-13-20
Posted On: 11-13-20