No one in the room bothered to measure the time since Stark mentioned the idea of Fury's interrogation and the young god came undone.
It was a shock for all of them.
They knew Loki as the arrogant bastard who tried to kill everyone.
It didn't match the broken soul in front of them who tried to keep everything together for so long until he finally broke down and who was now crying his eyes out into his brother's t-shirt.
Out of the three of them, Tony could understand the situation the most. He knew from experience that things often weren't as they seemed. He also knew what it meant to be hunted by his own demons and how powerful those could be. He didn't hesitate to offer Loki as much relief as he could, remembering the little boy who talked him through his own breakdown.
Steve was also no stranger to being unable to control his own destiny. He didn't know what exactly prompted Loki to lose his control so drastically, but he would never judge him for that. The soldier was getting the uncomfortable feeling that someone messed up with Loki's head. If that was indeed true, Steve couldn't say much against the god, considering that he protected his best friend and was willing to overlook his crimes because Bucky wasn't in control of his mind.
Banner only confirmed his own suspicions. Loki on Sakaar didn't match the Loki on Earth. Bruce was certain that something drastic must have happened before Loki's attack on his home planet. He himself was all too familiar with being unable to control his emotions from overcoming him and turning him into something he never wanted to be.
Somehow, every person in the room had to surmount a difficult situation they found themselves in at a certain moment in their life. They knew what it meant to make mistakes that they would never be able to fully repay. But they were not those people who would take the easy way out; those who never try anything because they are too afraid to lose. The Avengers made choices that sometimes people disagreed with, however, they could never be accused of hypocrisy. Or not giving people second chances had they deserved them.
And so the trio only sat there on the couch, each lost in his own thoughts. They didn't attempt to interrupt the brothers. It wasn't their place to do so.
As his tears dried out and his sobs silenced, Loki's body was no longer twisting in convulsions. He was now almost peacefully resting against his brother. When the last evil thoughts safely left him, Loki felt nothing but exhausted.
His physical injuries haven't been fully healed and the breakdown did the rest. The god was breathing heavily. He didn't try to move away from his brother's warm safety. Why would he. Even if he wasn't, he felt safe and sound.
"Loki?" Thor's voice filled with insecurity reached the younger god's ears.
"Hm?" The raven-haired god mumbled into his brother's t-shirt. He didn't bother to raise his head. He felt too worn out to do so.
"The bandage around your shoulder is all red." Thor pointed out gently with worry.
Loki sighed.
"As I said, I can take a look at it. If you let me." Bruce voice came out of blue. Loki almost forgot that the Avengers were still there. A little voice inside his head was telling him to put himself together and put the mask of smug back on his face and the walls back around his heart, but frankly, he didn't see much point in that considering that the team has just witnessed him crying for who knows how long.
Loki raised his head away from his brother's chest and glanced at Bruce. The scientist seemed sincere and calm enough to prevent any unpleasant surprising green beast's appearances. The God of Mischief knew he should be able to trust his judgement on that; he remembered his mother telling him that he's always been perceptive of others. Now Loki concluded that Bruce was going to stay Bruce and that he meant him no immediate harm. Slowly, he nodded.
Without any further comments, Bruce stood up and left the living room. Soon, he was back with a white box similar to the one Thor used in his attempt to treat Loki's injuries. Awkwardly, the doctor sat next to Thor and Loki. He didn't say anything but opened the box and stared inside with fake interest. He would touch all the different medical kits to make himself seem busy. He began to think that it was probably not the best idea to offer help to the mad god when the God of Thunder finally spoke.
"Ready, brother?" Thor whispered loud enough for both Loki and Banner to hear him.
Loki nodded in agreement and lifted himself up. He hissed, immediately noticing the pain in his shoulder and ribs. Now when the worst mental torment was fortunately gone, he understood in how much physical pain he actually was. His crying session made him breathe too heavily for his fragile ribs which were trying to desperately heal themselves with the use of his magic. Now his ribs were calling in vain for the healing magic to return and instead they were soaked in agony every time the Trickster would take a breath. His shoulder was doing ever worse. The wound was nasty; Clint's arrows were created to make nasty wounds and being shot from such a short distance reduced Loki's shoulder into a bloody mess. By now, Loki didn't even try to move his arm in any way, knowing that it would only send more pain throughout his body and the god was truly done with all of that.
Reluctantly, Loki made an eye contact with Bruce. He couldn't help himself but to think about the strange relationship they now shared. It was more than obvious that they were being very cautious around each other and didn't fully trust one another. At the same time, Bruce has shown Loki a lot of empathy when he joined Thor on his quest to save his younger brother which was something the contemplative god had trouble understanding. Also, Frigga was rarely wrong, and Loki indeed was very perceptive and so he didn't fail to notice all those little things Bruce did for him to feel more comfortable. Such as before they entered Stark's flat when he needed a moment of privacy with Thor and Bruce provided it without the need to be asked to do so. Being empathic was such a rare and underappreciated quality which Loki would prize in others. It may have been because Loki grew up in a family in which his brother would never notice that his younger sibling was constantly being pushed into shadows. Loki wasn't sure whether Odin also never noted the fact or he just didn't care. Frankly, he wasn't sure which option was more unpleasant and so he just shook these thoughts out of his mind.
Finally, Bruce plucked out the courage.
"Ehm…can you…you know…remove your…is it a tunic?" The doctor muttered while blushing slightly.
"No." Loki answered truthfully. He saw the confusion in Bruce's expression and considering that his shoulder and chest were on fire, he decided not to roast the doctor in one of his jokes.
"I mean I don't mind removing the tunic." The god emphasised the last word to those mortals who obviously understood nothing about fashion. "It is just that I can't lift my arm. So I need…" A God of Mischief doesn't need help. "I need an assistance." Loki finished as quickly as possible.
When did this situation get so humiliating for him?
Probably at the moment he set a foot into this flat.
Incorrect.
When he set a foot onto this planet.
So it seemed to be a bit too late to back down now.
"Let me." Thor's voice interrupted Loki's never-ending train of thoughts which was his bliss as it would provide him with his witty intelligence but at the same time a burden as it would never leave his mind to fully rest.
This time Loki actually rolled his eyes.
His brother was going to undress him in front of the Avengers.
Loki never thought such sentence would ever become true.
"Don't you have a spell for making your clothes disappear? It would probably be one of the first spells I would learn." Tony commented and reminded Loki of his presence in the room.
"Never let Pepper hear you saying that." Steve commented dryly.
"I didn't mean it in such…well okay I did, but you know it could be quite practical for both me and Pepper. Just think about it. I can get out of my Iron Man suits in seconds, but it takes ages to get yourself out of normal suits. I think that if someone was to invent a way to make their clothes disappear, they would make themselves very rich." Tony finished his monologue.
"As fascinating as it was to listen to your thoughts, Stark, you obviously have no idea how magic actually functions. It is more of creating illusions or using it for your inner benefit. You shouldn't misuse it for something as trivial as you have suggested." Loki never liked people speaking about his magic with disrespect. On Asgard, it was such a daily occurrence that he gave up on the idea of educating the Asgardians about the true power and purpose of this art. On Midgard, however, the mortals knew nothing about his magic and so the Trickster could at least try to prevent them from creating completely wrong assumptions.
"That sounds actually so fascinating. I wonder on what principle those illusions actually function. There must be some scientific explanation for them." Stark contemplated aloud.
Loki was thunderstruck.
And it had nothing to do with Thor.
He couldn't remember anyone other than his mum calling his magic fascinating.
"I may show you unless you try to murder me again." He said half-joking.
"Loki." Thor scolded his brother again who glanced back at him with raised eyebrows.
Right.
His injuries.
Thor carefully lifted Loki's tunic and tried to pull it over his uninjured shoulder. Not surprisingly, it didn't work, and the only result was Loki wincing in pain.
"You may want to use this." Bruce suggested, passing Thor scissors intended for cutting bandages.
Thor took the scissors with thanks, but Loki wasn't overly fond of the idea.
"If you cut me…" He started but Thor didn't let him finish.
"I won't if you don't move."
Thor did as he promised and soon everyone could see the massive amount of bandages all over Loki's torso.
"Sometimes, Fury is such an idiot." Steve mumbled and diverted his gaze. It was uncomfortable for him to see the lengths that the Director was willing to go to get what he wanted. Even if it was for a good cause.
"Maybe it is just Thor's incompetence." Tony replied but shut up when Thor gave him a look with sparks which didn't seem too friendly.
Slowly, Bruce began to unwrap the bandages. It took quite a while to remove all the layers but when he was done, everyone could see how bruised and scarred Loki's chest was. The bruises and welts were in many different colours. The God of Mischief was toned but not overly muscly as his brother and so the Avengers could see that some of his ribs were in unnatural shapes that seemed very painful.
"Right." Bruce commented only and began unwrapping the bandage around Loki's shoulder. This time, Loki wasn't able to stop a few moans escaping his lips. When Thor brought his hand to cover Loki's smaller one in a comforting gesture, the Trickster felt like an idiot. Yet when the bandage was gone and Loki could see the bloody hole in his shoulder, he squeezed his brother's hand in return.
Fortunately, Bruce used his rational, seven-PhDs-training in logical thinking and despite having no official medical expertise, he was working as quickly and as painlessly as possible. He cleansed Loki's scars with disinfectant and applied the right pressure where needed. Then he bandaged Loki's chest and shoulder tightly enough not to be uncomfortable but to make sure than nothing had the chance to move and so could heal properly.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Bruce examined Loki from a bit of a distance.
"I think we're done here." Banner said and the god exhaled in relief. During the process, he had a few moments when he debated inside his mind about the point of healing injuries when it caused almost as much pain as making them.
"Thank you." The Trickster replied automatically.
"You're welcome." Bruce answered, successfully hiding his shock upon hearing the words of thanks from the God of Mischief.
Loki looked around himself. Thor was sitting next to him for the whole time, providing assistance to Bruce anytime he needed it. Stark was doing something on his phone and Steve seemed to be reading some book. Loki was eternally grateful that all of them decided to pretend that his breakdown never happened.
"Tony?" Thor questioned and Stark brought his gaze from his phone. "Do you have by any chance some clothes that Loki could borrow?"
Tony seemed in process of replying something sarcastic, but he changed his mind at the last moment.
"I'll take a look." The Iron Man said and disappeared in the corridor.
"Are you alright, brother?" Thor asked with concern.
Loki nodded with honest albeit exhausted smile. There was no smirk; no rolling eyes. Just a smile showing Thor that he appreciated his care. It meant the world to the God of Thunder.
"Right. Who's hungry? I am. Let's cook something!" Thor suggested with enthusiasm. He got to his feet and gave Bruce an innocent look.
"Would you be so kind to help me with those kitchen machines, Bruce?" Thor formulated the question in such a way not to show how utterly lost he was in the sense of cooking.
"I am going to wash my hands and be right back." The doctor said only. Thor understood that it was quite a good idea, considering that his brother's blood was all over them.
"You should lay down, Loki." Thor focused the attention back to his brother who seemed to be close to fainting on the spot.
"That's not such a bad idea." Loki mumbled and made an attempt to stand up to go back to Thor's room.
"Don't you want to stay here? I will be right over there in the kitchen." Thor suggested and Loki considered his options. He could go back to the room where he would be safe from any potential attempts on his life. Yet he would be alone and his mind would be open to attacks from his inner demons. Or he could stay here, having Thor close to him, but it would mean sleeping on a sofa surrounded by his enemies.
Yet Loki knew that he had already made the decision. Somehow, it seemed easier to deal with the potential enemies which he could at least see around him, rather than those lurking in his mind and attacking him when he was the most vulnerable.
"I'll stay here." Loki said when Stark was coming back with a carefully folded white t-shirt.
"This should suit you." Tony said with a suspicious smile while giving the t-shirt to Loki. He didn't stay to see Loki's reaction and immediately moved to the kitchen in which Bruce began to search for a cookbook.
"I'll be right over there." Thor said and when Loki nodded, he quickly moved towards the cooking area. It was quite obvious that the God of Thunder was desperate for sustenance.
And so Loki was left in the living room with Steve. The soldier eyed carefully the t-shirt which Loki unfolded. When the God of Mischief saw the t-shirt, he wanted to punch Stark in the face.
It was a simple, white t-shirt with V-neck. However, it had a little black silhouette of a lion cub which was resting upon a sign Waiting to be the king.
Loki frowned, but put the t-shirt on anyway.
When Steve saw the t-shirt on Loki, he began to laugh. He was happy that Natasha recommended him to watch the Lion King.
In the next chapter, there will be some Loki and Steve bonding. Can anyone guess what/who they will be bonding over?
Hint: It was mentioned in this chapter ;)