"Is everything under control?" A cold, masculine voice resounded from a phone.

"Yes. He is with Thor in his room." Stark answered.

"Any complications?"

Pause.

"No. Everything is fine." Tony's voice didn't tremble at all.

"Alright. Keep me informed." Promptly, Fury ended the conversation.

Tony sighed. The truth was that nothing was under control. In fact, the whole situation turned out to be quite a disaster.

Their plan to constrain Loki and put him to some provisional cell failed completely when the trickster panicked and stabbed Clint. Tony knew that they shouldn't have forgotten about Loki's ability to conjure daggers out of nothing. The truth was that the team was mostly preoccupied with Thor. They all witnessed their friend's unwillingness to give his brother up when their spaceship landed on Earth. Later, Stark received a call from Fury in which the Director complained about Thor's ignorance towards the safety on their planet.

None of the Avengers wanted to hurt Thor. However, they did not trust Loki at all. They were sure the trickster would betray them at the first opportunity and they were not willing to risk their lives because Thor and Banner mentioned that Loki changed.

And so they set the trap. They waited in the living room for the group to arrive. Then, they seized the surprise to separate the brothers from each other.

But soon everything went out of control.

Tony put his head into his hands.

Fortunately, Clint was going to be alright. He talked with Natasha who stayed with him in the hospital and the archer was already stabilised.

What haunted Tony in his mind was Loki's scared expression when Thor was torn away from him and Barton smashed him into the wall.

"Stop." Tony told himself loudly and drank a cup of coffee. It was black coffee without sugar or milk and it made Tony's face grimace. He was grateful for it because at least for a second, he was able to stop thinking.

The pensive man looked out of the huge windows of his living room. It was very early in the morning and he imagined the city underneath him slowly coming back to life. The pavements would soon be flooded by pedestrians hurrying to work and the roads will be full of impatient drivers. The skies were grey and Tony imagined dark clouds lurking nearby. It may rain in the afternoon.

Tony exhalled. He didn't sleep much last night. When Clint was safely in the hospital with Natasha, Tony immediately returned to the tower. He found Banner brooding in the kitchen. Tony didn't know how to start a conversation with him after what had happened and the doctor didn't seem keen on conversing either. After checking with Jarvis that Steve was getting the frustration out of his system in the gym, Tony decided to go to the bed.

He paused in front of Thor's room. Some of his instincts were telling him to knock on the door to check on the brothers but his survival instincts were telling him otherwise. Not knowing what to do, Tony remembered what Pepper had told him once.

Morning is wiser than evening.

As it was often the case, Tony decided to listen to his lover's advice and without further delay he headed towards his bedroom. After collapsing on the bed and understanding that sleeping was out of question, he reached for sleeping pills.

He could still feel the effect of the pills while sipping his coffee in the dreary morning. Tony made a mental note to try meditation next time.

The sleepy head was interrupted by Steve and Banner coming into the room.

"Morning." Tony murmured, slightly annoyed for having his morning disturbed.

"Good morning, Tony." Steve answered. Both he and Banner headed straight for the coffee machine.

Something was telling Tony that they haven't slept much better than he has.

With coffee cups in between their hands, the trio was seated around the table.

"We need to talk." It was Steve to begin the conversation that all of them knew was coming

Steve's brave attempt was followed by an awkward silence.

"We royally screwed this up." Tony said finally, resting the cup of coffee on the table and running a hand through his hair.

"Whose idea was it to shoot him?" Banner reacted.

Steve had enough decency to look guilty when answering.

"Well…Clint's, I guess." Steve said unsure, but Tony nodded in agreement. "Look, Bruce. We had to ensure that he wouldn't fight back! You know Loki. That guy is strong and durable. We couldn't risk…"

"Oh, for god's sake!" Bruce interrupted. "Have you seen him? Hm? Loki couldn't even walk without leaning onto Thor. Do you have any idea what Fury did to him?" Bruce incredulously paused for a second. "Do you know what Fury did to him?"

"No, Bruce! Of course not." Tony answered with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"He tortured him." Bruce saw Steve opening his mouth to say something, but he continued nevertheless. "I don't know what he did to him but from what I saw, he must have been beating the hell out of him. For quite some time. If he wasn't a god, I am not sure he'd still be alive. Being a god doesn't make it any less painful though."

Another silence followed. This time it wasn't an awkward silence but more of a ruminative one. Everyone was lost in his own thoughts.

Tony suspected this. In the brief moment when he managed to catch a sight of Loki, he saw the bruises and noticed the hoarse breathing. Nothing ever justified torture. It was Tony's solemn conviction.

"Look." Bruce continued after all the implications of his previous statements sank in. "When I first saw him, he was tied to a chair. It took some self-control not to jump and strangle him on the spot. But since then…guys you have no idea what it was like. We were in Asgard and it was all in flames. She was unstoppable. If it wasn't for Loki, we would all die there. He came with that spaceship for us. He didn't have to do it. He knew how dangerous it was for him to come back to Asgard but he did it anyway. He could have just gone anywhere but he didn't. He came for us."

Bruce sipped his coffee and continued.

"I have never seen Thor so attentive to anyone. You know what he's like. His heart is in the right place, but he can be impulsive. But since Loki came back…it seems as if something just fell back to place for Thor. He is much stronger and yet when talking to Loki he is…tender. You cannot question what Loki means to him. If we try to separate them, I am sure we will lose Thor forever."

Bruce wasn't sure whether to continue or not. In the end, he decided to do so.

"We don't know what exactly triggered Loki's mind to snap the last time he was here, but I am pretty sure it had something to do with self-loathing and loneliness. If something like that happens again, we all know who to blame."

"Look, Bruce." Tony looked at Banner seriously. "I had no idea about the torture. You know that I would never support such an idea." Tony continued after Banner nodded. "But this is still Loki. I agree that we owe Thor an apology, but we can't have the God of Mischief running around the tower. You said it yourself – he can snap again. And if he does, what will happen? He may kill half of the city."

"Let's do this." Steve was quiet for a long time and so his friends knew he was about to say something thoughtful.

"You are both right. Yes, Bruce, Loki obviously isn't the same mad lunatic if he came by his own will to save you on Asgard. Yes, Tony, we can't let him go unsupervised around the town in case the lunatic kicks back in. But I believe that we can all agree on one thing. We are not torturing, not even mentally, especially not mentally, a person who doesn't seem to be in a position to fight back. Are we on the same side?"

"Yes." Tony and Bruce said simultaneously.

"Great. So let's do this. We leave Thor and Loki alone for how long they need. Then we will apologise to Thor and promise him not to harm his brother as long as he doesn't try to harm us. We will hope that Thor accepts our apology. Concerning Loki, I think our attitude towards him when he heals should be based on the interrogation that Fury intends to lead. The interrogation will happen here. We all deserve answers, but no one is torturing anyone. Do we have a deal?"

"What about Barton and Romanoff?" Tony challenged.

"They are going to be difficult but for now Clint is in the hospital and Romanoff is staying with him. As for Loki, I really don't think we can hold this against him. The guy was scared to death, he just automatically defended himself."

"Steve? Tony?" Banner asked suddenly. "Did you actually know that Barton was going to shoot Loki in a shoulder?"

"He was to constrict him. We let it up to him how." Tony murmured only.

Banner smiled, obviously relieved.

"Okay, Steve. We have a deal. We declare truce and give Loki a chance to explain himself. If he misuses our trust, he may be in for round two of smashing."

"Bruce?" Tony called after the doctor who began to stand up to leave.

"You really have confidence in him, don't you?"

"Strangely enough, I do."

"Speaking of Strange…where did he go?" Steve asked.

"No idea. He just disappeared in the chaos." Tony answered. "Who knows. Maybe he'll apparate here again."

…

When Thor woke up, he was a little confused. It took him a second to adjust to the simple facts.

Asgard was destroyed.

He was on Midgard in the Stark Tower.

Loki…

Loki.

Thor, who was lying on his back, turned his head to see dishevelled, black hair pressing onto his flank. Thor smiled because somewhere under the layer of slightly wavy hair, there was his brother who has either consciously or unconsciously snuggled closer to him. Thor didn't know what would be better. Whether having Loki consciously choosing and being comfortable with lying so close to him or the idea that Loki's instinct would be telling him to get closer to Thor for protection in the new, hostile environment. Either way, Thor felt like a child again – worriless, peaceful and comfortable. For a second, Thor let these feelings fill him up. In a way, he felt more home in this moment than he had in a very long time.

Thor tried to observe if Loki's injuries were healing properly but he didn't want to wake him up. Loki's body was covered by blanket up to his neck and his face was covered by his messy hair. Thor was amused imagining Loki's reaction to letting anyone seeing his hair so dishevelled. He knew his brother tried to keep his hairstyle dignified and tip-top.

The only visible part of Loki's body was his arm which was stretched across Thor's abdomen. Loki's body was lightly moving up and down following the pattern of trickster's regular breathing. Satisfied that his little brother seemed to be sleeping peacefully, Thor gently brought his hand on Loki's shoulder. He was very careful to avoid the area injured by the arrow.

Loki mumbled something inaudible and tried diving his face deeper into his brother's side. For some reason, it reminded Thor of a cat. A little, mischievous creature whose love and trust you had to win; but if you did it would embrace you with undying affection.

Almost immediately, Loki was fully asleep again. This time having his brother's big arm protectively around his shoulder, Loki was safely back in the land of dreams.

Knowing that his brother was fine and right next to him, Thor drifted back into peaceful slumber. He could focus on the rest of the world a bit later.

I just couldn't have a chapter without Loki, could I? ;)

Anyway, we can look forward to some more civil interaction between the Avengers and Loki. And who knows - maybe Strange will decide to pop in as well.