Instantly, Loki turned from pale to completely colourless.

Fury would be interrogating him again. Even if his brother managed to keep the Director from physically hurting him, he would not get himself out of talking about his time in the void.

Loki couldn't talk about it. He just couldn't bring himself to relive the most painful memories of his entire life. The mere idea of talking about the horrors he suffered at the hands of the vile creature whose name he was unable to articulate made Loki feel as if he was going to vomit. The shaking god brought his trembling hand to cover his mouth.

He wouldn't throw up in front of the Avengers.

"Loki?" Thor asked softly. His brother seemed to be in some sort of trance.

"I can't. Not the void. Please. Don't make me." Loki whispered out of breath.

"Why are you resisting, little prince?" The Other's hideous, soul-sucking grey face sneered right into his ear.

He couldn't even lift his head up. His vision was blurry, and he could see the dirty, coarse ground only vaguely. His shoulders were violently protesting against his body and head hanging helplessly in the stale air. The only cause for him still being in somewhat upright position were the shackles which were cutting into each of his wrists. His arms were spread out unnaturally far, leaving him completely exposed and defenceless as a result. His feet were touching the ground only with his toes by now; his knees were trying to find relief in resting on the ground in a Sisyphus's fight against the shackles binding his arms and keeping him unable to repose.

He was still wearing his armour. It was the Other's way of humiliating him further; to show him that no layer of golden metal and green leather from the shiny Asgard could help him now. It was definitely powerless against the Other inflicting torment upon him. Loki knew that very well by now.

"I asked you a question." The Other hissed dangerously quietly.

But Loki didn't have the energy to raise his head.

Not anymore.

The Other's hands were covered by rough, scaly skin. His fingers were unnaturally long and bony. Each of them ended in a long, dirty, sharp nail. Now, these fingers dug painfully into Loki's jaw and jerked his head up.

The god only gasped in agony. His vocal cords were too exhausted from too much screaming to create more articulate sounds.

"You lack good manners, prince." The Other spat the last word as if it was a curse.

"You don't know who you are. Don't you remember the moment when you landed here?" The vile creature's face turned into an ugly smirk.

"I can remind you." He said while bringing his other hand on the side of Loki's head.

Loki screamed and leaned backwards. He had only his godly body to thank for his back not breaking apart.

He could feel it again. The utter nothing, the black void around him while his stomach was wildly twisting as his arms and legs desperately searched for anything solid. Yet there was only the infinite darkness around him. The Other didn't remind Loki of the depiction of his fall. He reminded him of how it felt to be lost in there.

Suddenly, Loki relived the moment when out of blue he collided with the surface of the unknown cesspit of the universe.

The feeling of his bones breaking apart. The dull resonation in his skull. The hopeless attempts to bring some air inside his lungs to take a breath. The pain shooting from each angle of his body. Each injury caused by his uncontrolled collision with the unwelcoming surface.

And Loki screamed.

"Brother, please. Look at me." The God of Thunder demanded, but his little brother didn't stop shaking. Thor was getting desperate and so he raised his hand to forcefully remove his brother's palm covering his mouth and force Loki to look at him. Yet Tony stopped him.

"Thor, don't touch him now." Tony said in an unusually serious tone. Thor froze in his movements and stared desperately at the mechanic.

"I know this. I know what to do." Tony said with confidence and knelt in front of Loki.

Oh, the irony. Had the God of Mischief not been suffering from a panic attack, he would have enjoyed this situation immensely.

"Loki, look at me. Focus. Nothing you are thinking about is real. There is no void. No one and nothing can bring you back there. Do you here me? It is over, and it will never happen again. You are alright. Thor is right next to you." Tony articulated each word clearly and by the end of his short monologue, Loki's terrified eyes shifted to stare into his. Tony recognised the familiar disbelief and horror in them.

"You are clever, aren't you? Thor always goes on about how intelligent you are. So think. Would your mind ever create a safe place in which I would be present? Hm?" Tony knew that what worked on him was the use of rational and logical thinking. He hoped the god in front of him would be the same.

"No." Loki whispered.

Tony sighed in relief. Loki was following what he was saying.

"See? You are in my tower. Everything is fine. Thor is right here. You have nothing to be afraid of. Everything is alright." Tony didn't stop repeating the magical formula.

After an incredibly long moment, Loki nodded and his eyes filled with tears.

"I am so sorry." He breathed out and turned to Thor. "Brother I am so sorry. I tried to be strong but I couldn't. I can't. Please, don't be angry. Don't turn your back on me." The younger god begged Thor. Tears spilt out of his eyes and were making their way down the trickster's bruised cheeks.

"Shh, it's alright, little brother. It's alright." Thor understood what Stark was doing. He was eternally grateful for him, but now it was his turn to calm his sibling down.

Thor extended his arm and brought the palm of his hand on the back of Loki's neck in their gesture. He kept all his movements slow and obvious not to scare Loki further.

"I will never turn my back on you. You have my word. I am sorry I let you down, but it will not happen again. You are strong, brother. You are the strongest person I have ever known. Mother would have been so proud to see everything you have done to save our people." Finally, after all the times when Thor said the wrong thing which only made Loki hide deeper inside his shell, the Thunderer said the right thing.

Loki nodded. He didn't cease crying and when he choked on a sob, Thor brought him into a hug.

The lean god melted in his brother's huge arms as if they were his safe haven. He let himself be absorbed in his brother's warmth. He focused on Thor's hand stroking his back and at his deep voice whispering words of comfort.

Loki buried his face in Thor's chest and soon, the Thunderer's t-shirt was soaked in tears which were ceaselessly coming out of Loki's usually such brilliant eyes. His whole body was shaking violently with both relief and desperation. Pain was shooting out of Loki's bandaged ribs which were protesting against such violent movements of the chest. The wound from Barton's arrow reopened and the blood was now colouring the bandage around Loki's shoulder. Yet Loki didn't have any energy to spare to control the convulsions which were now in control of his body. He gave up any idea of moving and just allowed himself to fully rest his body weight against Thor who brought him as close to himself as possible.

Thor may be a God of Thunder, but his usual rough hands used to wielding Mjolnir and smashing his enemies' skulls turned into soothing devices now. Thor's right hand was drawing circles on Loki's back, effectively holding him in place and close to Thor while providing comfort that the trickster's haunted mind could turn his attention to. Thor's left hand was in Loki's hair, gently massaging his head under the dishevelled, raven-coloured, slightly wavy hair.

Loki was partly aware of the Avengers still being around. At the back of his mind a little voice was telling him to put himself together in front of his enemies and stop being so bloody vulnerable.

Yet the Avengers were just one branch of Loki's numerous enemies. His bigger demons were now dancing all around his mind and the only thing capable of stopping their vengeful movements and mercilessly throwing them out seemed to be the comfort of his brother.

Loki felt like Yggdrasil, the tree connecting the Nine Realms together. Only there weren't any friendly planets at the ends of his branches. It was as if each branch carried the burden of the unwelcoming Jotunheim full of monsters and vile creatures of darkness. They were all crawling on the edge of each branch, waiting for the opportunity to invade Loki's mind and conquer his cognitive functions and delete his conscience.

Maybe it was his punishment for trying to violate the balance of the Yggdrasil by destroying Jotunheim.

Loki had to keep those demons at bay.

Fortunately, it seemed that he wasn't alone at this task anymore. The reinforcements have arrived. And what better reinforcements than his brother, a God of Thunder, who managed to defeat Hulk in a single combat.

"They are lurking in my mind, Thor. Looming behind the horizon. The demons. It is so difficult to keep them locked away. They were telling me to take the spaceship far away from both Sakaar and Asgard. I managed to get rid of them then, but what if I can't keep doing that?" Loki whispered underneath his breath. But Thor heard him.

"Don't worry, brother. I'll hunt the demons down and slay them all." Thor said and meant every single word.

Loki remembered this sentence. It was hunting him since he touched the Casket and confirmed his parentage.

I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all.

The God of Mischief viewed this sentence as a confirmation of his lack of family. Even in their childhood, Thor was willing to kill his monster of a brother. Even if he wasn't aware of it yet.

But now, the sentence got an entirely different meaning. It got the real meaning, the one if was always meant to have.

Thor would not let these demons overtake his mind again. Thor would be there for him, hold him if the need be and help him to make the right decision. He wouldn't let Thanos touch him again.

Here.

He said it.

It may have been only in his mind but he said it.

Thanos.

He can't touch him now. His name cannot hurt him. He himself can't hurt or control him.

Loki can do it. Thor said it himself. He is strong enough.

Slowly, Loki's sobbing ceased so that only an occasional, lonely sob would escape his lips. His eyes have also dried out, whether it was because they run out of tears or because Loki was calming down didn't matter.

I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all.

Loki repeated that sentence inside his brain. He managed to take the sentence that represented his loneliness and turn it into strength, telling him that his brother will always have his back.

If he managed to do that, he can turn his life around as well.

Loki didn't want to be alone anymore.

But he wasn't worried about that any longer.

He wasn't alone.

He was loved.

Suddenly, Loki knew how to show Fury what he wanted to see. He just wasn't sure the Director will like it.

If you are asking yourself for how long I can keep hinting Fury's return, then the answer is for quite a while ;)

Anyway, the exams are over (imagine the face Loki made when people were running around him in chaos in Stuttgart) so a lot of time for updating. Yay!

I am so happy that people still keep following and favoriting this story. I have just seen the prologue which truly was written just because of a little idea based on Loki's line in the mid-credit scene in Ragnarok, but I have been immensely enjoying writing more of it.

As always, I enjoy reading your reviews so please do leave a comment.