Thor gazed down upon the small stone with confusion. An eyebrow cocked, head following suit. About an hour after leaving the infirmary where Loki was staying, Bruce had asked Thor to take a look at the stone.

"I have no idea what this is," the god finally said. Tony and Bruce frowned, shoulders drooping.

"Well, that could've made our jobs a lot easier," Stark muttered, picking up the stone with tongs and depositing it into a sealed container.

"I am sorry to not be of any assistance to you. However, once Loki awakens, you may be able to get him to talk."

"Yup, I'm sure he'll be a bucketful of information."

Thor frowned. "Loki is one of the most skilled magicians in Asgard. If this 'stone' did cause his injury, he'll more than likely know where it came from."

"Uh huh, yeah, I don't know if I'm okay with trusting your brother—you know, god of mischief?" Tony raised an eyebrow at the Asgardian, shrugging.

"Your concerns are noted."

A sharp pain in his head brought Loki out of his slumber. A sigh of irritation escaped his mouth, eyebrows lowering over his eyes. Within the next few minutes, the Jotun managed to open his eyes to the world. The lights were still dimmed and the room a nice temperature. It felt much better than the stifling heat he'd felt earlier. Unfortunately, he was still dealing with the increasing amount of pain in his abdomen again.

Geez, didn't these Midgardians have any painkillers that actually worked?

Wait, now that Loki's mind was clear—and he wasn't being assaulted with questions from the nearly intolerable Avengers—he realized he didn't even remember why he was here. It took some thinking, but eventually Loki succeeded in activating his memory. The Chitauri, the mind-numbing agony as whatever was inside him activated—and most of all, Thor telling him it was alright as they tried to end the destruction of the planet.

Suddenly, Loki felt very lonely.

Grunting, the Jotun sat up in his bed. His whole body protested this simple action intimately, heart pounding in his chest. Loki coughed, pain rocketing up his spine. Not wanting another accident, he fell back onto the bed, heart hammering loudly. His breath came in quick gasps, the ability to get a full inhale escaping him. Loki clenched his fists, unable to calm himself and found himself wishing Thor was there to assist him. Okay, so trying to sit up is not a good idea, Loki thought to himself. Chest rising and falling rapidly, he found the pain in his midsection escalating. He grit his teeth together, a snarl of pain barely being held back. His vision swam as he gasped for air.

"Loki!?"

Two hands were on his face, trying to make him look at them. Thor began to speak, but by this point Loki was hardly able to concentrate on what was being said. There were several louder exclamations and then blurry figures appeared on the outskirts of his vision. Thor's hands were no longer on Loki's face but one was holding his hand, though the only one doing any actual movement was Thor. Sounds muddled together (he vaguely recalled a sharp beeping that stood out) and Loki's eyes closed.

Thor sat, worriedly, in the chair beside his brother's bed. He'd walked in to Loki having some sort of fit, writhing and struggling for air. Thor had raced forward and tried to control the spasms, calling for Doctor Banner, but they'd lost Loki to unconsciousness before anything could really be done. So afterwards, he'd taken a seat and was now waiting patiently for his brother to awaken. Bruce had returned to the lab to study the stone with Tony. It wasn't long before his mind began to wander.

He thought about the fights, the pain, and most importantly, the news of Loki's torture. If he had been there, perhaps he could've saved him. But he hadn't been. He had let his brother down.

Wait, wait a second, Thor hadn't seen any scars or injuries of any kind—at least not that would've been inflicted by torture. Bruce hadn't reported anything, either. That was more than suspicious.

Thor eyed Loki carefully. Mayhaps he was lying? . . . No, no, Loki couldn't lie about something like that, wouldn't lie about something like that. But then why weren't there any markings? Even superior beings like them had scars and the like, and anything that was a sign of torture couldn't heal like that. The thunder god stood up, curious, but also regretful that he was actually going to do this.

Thor reached over and pushed the white shirt Loki was wearing up. The sewed-up gash crisscrossing his midsection looked fine, so he continued upwards. There was no sign of any blemishes. Loki seemed to be fairly unscarred. But . . .

Magic. That was it. Loki's magic was unpredictable and could do amazing things—like hiding injuries or scars. Thor allowed Loki's shirt to fall back down, covering his latest wound. The thunder god was pensive, knowing exactly what he was going to ask his brother when he awoke.

Tony stood gazing down at the stone. JARVIS was running yet another scan of the thing, in hope that there was something—anything—they might have missed. Not one of them had touched it. Anything could happen.

Scan complete. There is nothing about the stone we do not already know, JARVIS reported; the same report the scientists had gotten the last three times.

"You're sure?" Stark said inquisitively. He eyed the stone.

Positive, sir.

"Well, great. I don't know what to do."

Bruce glanced up from his station where he was working with several concoctions that they would use on the stone. "Just keep trying different things, I suppose."

Tony paused. "Or we could just touch it."

"Tony. You know we can't take that risk. Look what it did to Loki."

Doctor Banner would be correct, sir.

"Bruce, get a first aid kit ready," Tony said, wiggling the fingers on one hand.

I highly recommend against this action, sir.

"Tony! I swear, if you touch that—"

The billionaire cautiously reached a hand forward. His index finger barely touched it and a blast of energy burst from the stone. Tony went flying backwards, crashing into equipment and falling onto his back with a thump. Banner had already ducked down behind his station, but now poked his head up above the table.

"Tony? Tony? JARVIS, get someone, would you?" Bruce stammered. Stark lay unmoving on the floor, surrounded by pieces of metal and broken shards of glass. Fortunately, his Arc Reactor didn't flicker or turn off.

Emergency personnel have already been informed and are on the way to your location, Doctor Banner.

"Thanks, J."

You are quite welcome.

"Shit," Clint muttered.

"He's an idiot," Natasha sighed, shaking her head.

"I agree," Steve added.

"Oh, come on guys," Bruce said as he busied himself with wrapping Tony's hand in gauze. The billionaire lay unconscious on a cot, a little blood dripping from his nose. He had gotten a few cuts from being slammed around and the initial blast from the stone had sliced his hand open, plus a minor injury on the back of his head from hitting the floor, but that was it. "At least we know now that the stone will screw you over if you touch it."

"He shouldn't have touched it in the first place," Steve argued, crossing his arms.

"Do you think I just didn't tell him that, or what?" Banner raised an eyebrow at the soldier. "Because I did. He's careless; I should've known he'd touch it—considering what it did to Loki."

Natasha shifted in her spot. "Speaking of our situation, that stone was inside him. I seriously doubt he did that to himself."

"Unless he's some sort of masochist, I doubt it," Barton said, shrugging. "He was all groaning and screaming last time I saw him."

"We need answers. Once Loki is awake—or not—we go to Thor and demand some," Steve growled.

Banner wiped blood from his hands and walked around the bed. "We might have to just get answers out of Thor. Loki had a bit of a . . . fit earlier and passed out again. He could be down for hours yet."

Steve fixed the scientist with one of his serious looks. "Then let's go."

Thor turned around as he heard the approach of his teammates. He lifted a hand to greet them, but quickly stopped as he saw the looks on their faces. He noticed Tony was also missing.

"Is something wrong, friends?" Thor asked, standing up. Behind him, Loki slept on. Natasha stepped forward, explaining the situation to Thor. The thunder god's face dropped and he glanced away. The team watched him expectantly. "Well, I'm sorry about that. Unfortunately, I could not have predicted that from happening. So what do you want, exactly?"

"Thor, we want you to explain to us what occurred between you and Loki," Clint said firmly.

"I said I would wait to speak to Loki about it. I am not going to go back on my word."

"We need answers! We can't wait around in obliviousness of what's happening. We let Loki come back to the helicarrier—the least you can do is tell us what's going on," Steve said.

Thor looked torn for a moment. He flexed his fingers, glancing away. On one hand, if he told them, then they'd trust him more but Loki would be furious. And on the other, if he didn't tell them, then they wouldn't trust him.

Thor glanced back up, meeting their gazes. "Fine. I shall tell you. But I wish to only say it once, so we wait for Stark to waken."

I'm on a roll, guys. I have read like every single whump story on this site in less than a day and I am pumped.