A/N: Ok... so there're feels again... I'm sorry! There's explanations of Thor's side of things so yeh... expect trauma and feels, and Odin being a terrible (and abusive) parent...

"What of this, brother?" Thor held up a plain grey T-shirt for Loki's inspection.

"Not stylin' enough!" Tony put in, grinning, as he looked through racks of shirts, "Lokes needs something with tighter tailoring."

Loki smiled gently from where he sat, one leg crossed decadently over the other, on a sofa across from them. They were sitting in a massive department store after-hours. Tony had arranged for them to be met here by a personal shopper, the privileges of the billionaire lifestyle meant that they could ensure privacy while they expanded Loki's wardrobe.

Thor opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the personal shopper flouncing in with more piles of shirts draped over her arms.

Tony strolled over to her and began to survey the latest haul, "...no, no, no," he tossed the offending articles onto an empty straight-backed armchair, "...maybe," this he threw at Loki, "...no, no. Ooh, nice..." another thrown to Loki, "...maybe, yes, yes, no... right Luke," he said, placing undue emphasis on the alias, "go try them on babe."

Loki gathered the clothes in his arms and trotted into a nearby changing cubicle.

"Would you like me to fetch anything else Mr Stark?" the personal shopper queried brightly.

"Uh, no we're good for a while," Tony replied. "Why don't you go grab yourself a cup of coffee or something? You can check back in with us in like, 15, maybe 20, minutes."

"No problem Mr Stark – if you need me before then you can just buzz through," she indicated the button on a coffee table by the sofa, "I'll be in the break-room," she added as she left.

Loki came out in the first of the shirts, doing a dramatic little twirl in the middle of the room, letting off the smallest of green sparks from his fingers in a glittery display, "Well...?" he asked brightly.

Tony just stared for a moment. The black silk draped bewitchingly around Loki's slender body. The fabric clung to his form yet still managed to move fluidly with every motion Loki made, like an enchantment beneath the shop's lights. It looked like black gossamer, caressing every curve of his body.

"Babe..." Tony coughed, clearing his throat, "...I really, really, want to do some very inappropriate things to you right now."

Thor laughed heartily, "Perhaps it's best if you change into another shirt, little brother," he said, "before the Man of Iron is unable to control himself."

Loki blew a cheeky kiss to Tony, sashaying back to the changing room smugly.

"...if you're sure," Loki sighed. He shifted slightly, turning back to Tony from where he had been gazing out of the tower's windows at the lights below.

"Of course baby, you need clothes and you don't have money - and I'm sure as hell not gonna miss the cash," Tony replied as he threw himself down on a chair, drink in hand, "and besides – I've paid, and I'm not going to tell you how much the bill came to."

"Let Friend Stark buy things for you," Thor advised, swigging from his tankard, and walking over to the window next to the Omega, "he only wishes to make you happy Loki."

Loki nodded amicably, but tensed when Thor threw a brotherly arm around him.

Loki breathed in and then exhaled, slowly, "Thor," he said quietly, "please move your arm."

"Brother -"

"No Thor, please don't argue. Just move your arm."

"But Loki -"

"Thor, please," Loki pleaded, eyes wide, breathing becoming quicker, "I... I just can't right now... I don't even know why, but..."

Thor looked down at him in concern, "Alright," he conceded quietly, pulling his arm away and stepping away, putting a respectful distance between himself and Loki, "as you wish brother. I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you."

The spot-lighting in the bar-room glinted off the water droplets in the corners of Loki's eyes, "I..." he croaked, "I'm sorry Thor..."

Thor smiled, a surprisingly gentle expression, "Brother," he said sadly, "it is not your fault."

"Hey," Tony said, heaving himself up and strolling over to them, "No long faces guys. Take it slow, remember? You two have enough emotional baggage to last you a long time... don't push things!"

Loki breathed deeply, trying to halt the flow of tears down his face as Tony reached out a hand, entwining their fingers, "I don't even know why I'm crying!" Loki announced, frustrated, "It's so... pathetic!" His words gave way to stifled sobs, Tony took him into his arms, breathing sweet consolations into his hair.

Thor's brother, the heat-smell was coming from Thor's own brother. Loki was Omega. How was this possible?

"You're frightening him father! Please! He is your son!"

"Filthy Omega whore! I should slay him where he stands! A filthy bitch in my own household!"

"Father, please – he is still Loki!"

"A vile creature... fit only for whoring – no, no-one shall know of this shame!"

"Father no, you can't, it's Loki!"

"I know what I'm doing Thor! No-one will be able to claim they have bred the Prince of Asgard like a common beast! Not a word boy, for his sake – or do you want every Alpha in the kingdom raping him in the hopes of fathering a child of royal blood? Or worse, raping him simply to show that we are weak? Is that what you want boy? Your brother, broken and bloody, being humiliated and mounted in public? Is that what you want for him – for your own brother?! I thought I had raised you better!"

Thor did not know what to think. This was wrong, this was wrong - but his father knew best, surely? He was only protecting Loki, wasn't he?

"Oh, Frigga, I've sent Loki on a fact-finding mission in one of the villages. You know I've been meaning to make the boy useful. He should be back in a few weeks."

Had their mother ever wondered? Had she questioned? And why had Thor said nothing? To protect Loki? Or to protect himself?

"I'm dealing with it Thor. This is the best way forward. He is safe, and none shall touch him but me. Isn't that what's best for him? No other can be trusted with him. I am doing my duty in this matter boy, I suggest you do yours. I have plans for after the heat – none will use him against us my son. Not a word to another soul Thor, or you will damn him to a life of misery!"

Two weeks. He had not asked where Loki was. Maybe he had not wanted his fears confirmed. If he did not ask, it somehow felt less true.

A pale body brought from the cellars in the dead of night. For days he slipped in and out of fevered consciousness. His face was ghostly, his stare unseeing. Thor rarely left his side.

"Set upon by bandits Frigga, on his way back from the village. Poor boy. Come, he has Thor to watch over him, let my healers," not healers, Thor thought, sorcerors, "do their work."

Loki's body smelled of Beta – sick Beta, possibly even dying Beta. He had marks over his body that Thor could not explain... not in any way that he wished to consider anyway. Odin claimed they were self-inflicted, that Loki had been overwhelmed by the heat and tried to harm himself... Thor didn't know what to believe.

"I have freed him of his curse Thor. He will have a better life this way! Or would you rather he end up in a brothel... you have visited the Omega brothels, haven't you? Did they seem a good place to leave your brother? Do you think he would be suited to that line of work? Well? Speak up boy! No? I thought so. This is what is best for him Thor. He is lucky really, other Omegas do not have the resources to become Beta. One day he will thank me!"

Days passed. Eyes opened. Fever faded.

"How are you feeling brother?"

"Well enough."

"Father has announced your full maturity - that you are a Beta, Loki."

"...So it would seem."

"Will you come for dinner brother?"

"Perhaps another time."

Days gave way to months.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what Loki?"

A shake of the head, "Nothing Thor, I just thought... Nothing, I did not think anything."

"Coming hunting with me brother?"

"Not today Thor."

Months passed by, one after another.

"I just can't along with the girl Thor, why does father insist on making me sit next to her?"

"Well, she's a very eligible Beta girl Loki. And she is in heat. She's practically throwing herself at you."

"...Really...? Are you sure Thor...?"

"Very sure."

Thor fell into his regular hobbies: hunting, drinking, and whoring, mainly, though he kept to Beta whorehouses these days. He seemed to have lost much of his lust for Omega whores.

"Thor, hide me!"

"Loki...? What are you talking about...?"

"Ah!" Odin's voice, followed by Odin's heavy steps into Thor's chambers, "There you are Loki! Come, you have a healing session waiting!"

Loki looked down, and followed after Odin meekly.

Over time, Thor had thrown himself into his care-free life, the life of Asgard's High Prince – the virulent warrior and mighty Alpha...

"Oh sorry Loki, I did not notice you there."

"That's alright brother, I was looking for my cat..."

"Loki, do you have a cat?"

"...I'm starting to think that maybe I don't... I did though – Whiskers, wasn't it?"

A chuckle, "Brother, you have been at the mead. Whiskers was our cat when we were boys. He has long since found his eternal rest."

"Thor!" a voice from further down the corridor, "We're going to be late! Fandral's waiting for us!"

"I will see you soon Loki."

There were many incidents that, knowing what he did now, made Thor regret not reaching out – not saving his brother. And to think that he had taken Loki back to Asgard for punishment! He would need to come to terms with that guilt on his own. But what mattered now was Loki. He would be there for his brother, whenever Loki was ready.