Bruce navigated his way through the abdomen of his patient. He worked with a steady hand, tongs gripped in his fingers. This was definitely not something he thought he'd ever be doing. Especially not to a former? villain turned . . . um, Bruce actually wasn't sure what Loki was. But that didn't stop him from extracting whatever was inside of the Jotun. Suddenly, Bruce felt something brush against his tongs. He arched an eyebrow, nudging the object a few more times. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't part of Loki. Banner shifted his hand and grasped the object with the tongs. It wasn't very big, seeming only a little bit smaller than his fist. With a slow and cautious movement, the scientist extracted the object, a quiet bubble of blood following suit. He quickly set the object on the nearby tray and brought up a small screen to lower Loki's blood pressure from it.
Alright, there we go, Banner thought as Loki's bleeding died down. Taking a cloth, he wiped up some of the blood that ran down onto the operating table/Loki's cot. There is a reason I am not an actual doctor. Bruce picked up a surgical needle and thread to begin stitching the broken god back together. After the first few rounds, more intense beeping drew his attention. Bruce's face turned upward, eyes peering over the top of his glasses to see Loki stirring from his unconsciousness. The scientist blinked in confusion, gaze redirecting to the screen reading Loki's anesthetic levels. To his surprise, they were the same. A low moan from the Jotun forced Banner to take action. He moved swiftly to increase the dose of anesthetic. Loki murmured in discomfort before stilling once more.
Bruce sighed in relief. Once he was sure Loki was not going to wake up again, he continued stitching the wide wound in his abdomen closed. In a matter of minutes, the bloody task was completed. Banner sat back with a sigh. His eyes drifted down to his bloodstained hands, and he frowned. He washed up and took Loki off the anesthetic (giving him a large amount of painkillers in with his IV as well), then placed the tools he'd used for surgery in the other room. Then he redirected his attention to the object he had removed from Loki. It was a deep black and polished until it shone—although that may have just been the fresh blood still glistening in the light of the room. Bruce did a quick scan of it using the technology in the room, but found nothing. There was no energy, heat, or light being expelled from it. Perplexed, Banner carefully picked it up with the tongs and took out a small metal box, dropping the rock-like thing inside it. A small print of blood became seen under it and he quickly closed the lid on the box. He then slid the box to the side, mentally reminding himself to get it to the lab for examination.
Everyone looked up as Banner appeared in the doorway. Thor was right in front of him in an instant, eyes curious and wanting.
"I've removed the . . . object. If I'm correct, Loki should be waking up any minute now. Almost did during the surgery," Bruce said, grimacing. Thor clapped the scientist hardily on the shoulder, a grin creeping over his face. Banner let out a nervous laugh, shuffling awkwardly.
"Thank you much, Banner. Now, I shall be wanting to go to my brother," Thor declared. He thumped off, and the other Avengers hustled to do the same. Bruce, before the billionaire could get out the door, stopped Tony with a quick tap on the shoulder.
"Yeah?" Tony asked, quizzical.
"I think we should get Thor to take a look at the, uh, let's call it stone, and then see if we can find out what it is. After that, I propose you try and learn something from it," Banner suggested.
A grin became known on Tony's face. "Sweet, alien junk." He then padded down the hall after the others.
Loki felt sick. His head pounded and there was an intense pain in his abdomen. He tried to move, but found he couldn't.
Was it getting hot in there? Loki was pretty sure it was hot in there.
That was when he heard voices. Trying his hardest to shift—something, anything—Loki managed to twitch a finger. That seemed to help him wake up more, as the voices became more apparent and coherent.
". . . waking up," came a deep male's voice.
"He looks like shit," commented another. Loki tried to scoff at this, but managed only a groan as the pain increased.
"Loki? Can you hear me?" Loki recognized that voice now. That was definitely Thor. A hand wrapped around his, and the Jotun attempted to squeeze it. He succeeded. "Aha! Brother, speak for me, please." Loki groaned as Thor jostled his arm and the thunder god seemed to take notice of this, for he loosened his grip. Slowly—ever so slowly—Loki cracked an eye open.
". . . I . . ." was all he managed to speak.
Thor appeared in his blurry vision. Some of the light from the room was blocked out and he was grateful for that. "Loki? How art thou feeling?"
Trying not to roll his eyes at Thor's reverted speech, he croaked out an answer: "How . . . do you think I'm doing?"
Thor's face remained the same, apparently not affected by his brother's snarky attitude. "Well, at least we know he's not on the verge of death," Natasha's sarcastic voice sounded from off to the side.
"Is your stomach hurting?"
Loki was sure that was the beast without the beast—Banner, his name was. "You mean, as in my whole midsection? You'd be correct." Loki's eyes had long since closed. He couldn't stand the bright light—his headache was increasing steadily with every word that was spoken.
"I'll up the painkillers," Bruce said. There was the sound of movement and the terrible pain harassing the Jotun lessened considerably. Loki sighed with relief, sinking farther into his pillows.
"Brother, art thou—aren't you going to open your eyes?" Thor questioned.
Loki hesitated before shaking his head, and with a pant of a word, replied, "The light . . . i-is hurting my eyes." A moment later, the brightness of the room decreased, much to Loki's pleasure. After that, he tried once again to blink open his eyes. This time, he got them open and made them stay open.
Thor smiled, eyes gleaming. "It is good to see your gaze. I hope you are not hurting too bad."
Loki shrugged—or, at least, tried to. "I—" The beginning of a sentence was cut short as a terrible pain shot through his skull, causing him to give a cry of pain and pull away from Thor, hands gripping at his head.
"Loki!" Thor quickly did a lookover of his brother, surprise etched into his features.
"What's happening to Reindeer Games?" Tony asked, confused. A moment later, Loki's held back groans of pain stopped, and he remained still, panting heavily. His eyes were dull and lifeless. Thor frowned, sitting on the edge of the bed. He placed a hand on Loki's forehead and found it to be swelteringly hot.
"He is overheating," Thor informed the team as he withdrew his hand. "He gets severe headaches when this happens—no amount of painkillers can stop them."
"Here, I'll lower the temperature," Steve said, as he was closest to the thermostat. "How cold should I set it to?"
Thor thought briefly before answering with: "Fifty-five." Acknowledging his teammate's words, Steve rolled the dial until he got to the correct temperature. Soon, the air began to grow cold.
"How's that, Loki?" Thor asked.
Loki sighed, relaxing. "Much better."
"Good." Thor paused. "Are you in need of anything?"
As if on cue, Loki yawned. He blushed slightly at the snickers, but returned them with a glare.
"We better leave Sleepy here to himself," Hawkeye smirked.
Thor shot an unapproving glance back at Barton, but returned his gaze to Loki. "You look defeated, brother. Perhaps you should sleep off your weariness instead of spending it under a spell." With an irritated pout, Loki crossed his arms. Thor smiled slightly, leaned forward, and kissed Loki on the forehead. No one dared say anything.
More Loki whump to come. So much more. Just because I can. Haha, am I right guys? . . . Guys?