Loki still looked messed up, but on the mend at least. When Tony slipped into the cell to see with his own eyes what had been done to the little criminal there ended up not being much to see. His upper torso and arms were covered by specialty bandages that were blue in colour and had the duel purpose of healing his burns and protecting against infection. A light sheet covered his stomach and legs, and his feet were wrapped in the same bandages. The chain that had linked the cuffs on Loki's wrists had been removed by Reid who had claimed that they did nothing but get in the way. As long as the cuffs themselves remained intact and blocking his magic, there was no harm in removing the chain. Despite his injuries, despite everything, Tony had refused to allow those to be taken off.
Loki had managed to protect most of his face from burning directly, but the skin was still quite damaged and very red. More bandages were wrapped around his eyes which had suffered from broken capillaries. They would heal, and his sight wouldn't be too affected, but they needed time to heal first. Hence the bandages keeping his eyes shut. Ice packs surrounded him, keeping his inflamed skin cool.
The small cell echoed with the sound of Loki's labored breathing. An oxygen mask sat gingerly on the damaged skin around his nose and mouth, the tubes from that intertwining with the IV that feed into his arm. In addition to that, there were sensors attached to different parts of his body, monitoring his heart rate, breathing, and brainwaves. All of which had been pretty consistent for the last few days.
The members of the Fantastic Four had moved back to their own tower, leaving Loki in Tony's care. It was too suspicious for them to stay any longer, so Tony had told Pepper that he was moving into the house early, just to test it out. His assistant/girlfriend raised a perfectly formed eyebrow at his deceleration but didn't argue it. She wouldn't be joining him for two or three weeks due to business out of town. Instead, it was Bruce who came with him, and Tony was glad for the company. Tony could change bandages and feed an IV, but anything more medically complicated than that and he was screwed. Bruce fell into the role of doctor like a small duck to a large pond, and kept a close eye on Loki's lungs and burns. Tony did what was asked of him, but otherwise stayed out of the way and busied himself with finishing the work on the mansion.
The day Nick Fury showed up had been nerve wracking, but well played by all parties in the end. Tony had come up from his workshop to grab so food for himself, and had practically tripped over the one eyed man in the sitting room.
He couldn't remember exactly what had happened, but he did not scream. He had yelled a lot, but he did not scream.
Fury had been his usual self, and questioned Tony on what he was doing in a house he hadn't set foot in for years. Tony told him the truth, mostly because it was more fun to watch Fury's reaction.
"It's my home for the Avengers! Do you like it? My first thought was the tower, but then Pepper said I wouldn't be able to keep my name on the building, which of course is crazy so I went with the next best, or rather, closest property."
Fury was wholly unimpressed. "You're making a base for the Avengers?" he asked in a deadpan voice.
"Well, not everyone had a dozen properties laying around. Bruce kinda needs a place to stay, and I'm sure while Thor loves cuddling with his girlfriend on a tiny double bed, I literally have rooms fit for royalty."
"You do realize the Avengers initiative is a Shield program, and when needed, will be run out of a Shield base?"
"You mean your floating castle in the sky? The one that your archer nearly put into the ground with two, that's right! Two little arrows? Yeah, no thanks. Besides, this place isn't meant to be a base," It was. "and Shield still gets to call the shots on the Avengers." They don't. "I'm just making a safe place for superheroes like myself to put their toothbrushes. I'll give you the full tour once all the construction is finished. We have a pool! Do you have a pool?"
Fury left soon after that, but not without the typical amount of glaring and sudo-threats.
Tony sighed in relief when he was gone, then did a full scan of the premises to make sure he hadn't left any devices behind.
A few days after Nick's visit, Tony decided they needed to call Thor in. Loki was healing very slowly, and had yet to regain any sort of consciousness. He and Bruce has tried talking to the comatose god, but had yet to garner any reaction. The hope was that Thor might have better luck. Once, you know, he stopped yelling.
()()()()
"It is a fine home Stark, and an impressive fortress." the large blonde complimented once Tony had given him a short tour.
"Glad you think so, I designed it with all of us in mind. There's a room here for you as well if you want."
Thor's smile lessened, "While I am grateful for the offer, I cannot leave Jane now. It is too dangerous. She is not a warrior like you or I, or even Lady Natasha. She is vulnerable, and my brother knows this. She is not safe while Loki's whereabouts are unknown."
Tony gave the man a half smile. "Well, since you've brought it up, I should probably tell you Loki's whereabouts aren't so unknown."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I know where Loki is. In fact, he's about thirty feet directly below where you're standing." Thor blinked in confusion and Tony sighed. "He's in one of the holding cells I was telling you about."
"You caught him?" Thor asked incredulously.
"Not really," Tony frowned, "caught is the wrong term. Rescued is more accurate."
"What do you mean?"
"Buddy, you're gonna want to sit down for this, and please refrain from smashing the place apart until the story is finished please."
Tony explained everything. How Bruce had suspected foul play from the beginning, and how the Fantastic Four had helped get Loki out. He nervously showed Thor a clip from the security cameras from inside Shield's cell. When the thunderer didn't immediately fly into a fit of rage, Tony continued by listing off the injuries tallied and how they were being treated. In the end, Thor was sitting tense in his chair, his hammer gripped in both hands as his fingers flexed over the leather of the handle.
"Is this how mortals treat their captives?" he asked finally and Tony scrambled to answer.
"No, no it's not. That's why we broke him out. Keeping him locked up in a cell, yes, that is the standard procedure with prisoners. Torturing them? Not even close to ok."
"And the men who did this to him, they still live?"
That one Tony hesitated before carefully answering. "...yes. Yeah we didn't kill any of them. Because again, that's not what we do."
"They tortured my brother!" Thor suddenly bellowed, his voice ringing off the walls. "They lied to me when I asked what they intended to do to him and lied again so that I would think that he had broken free. If you had not rescued him, would they not have continued until he was dead?"
Tony put his hands up to show he was unarmed when Thor stalked forward menacingly. "Buddy? I know. I get it, I know exactly where you're coming from and you don't even know half of the story yet. I also know that where you're from, it is common practice to smite you're enemy so they can't hurt you again. But Shield isn't an army. It's sneaky, and going in and killing a bunch of scientists who were just doing their job isn't going to stop Shield from doing it again. It will just piss them off and then you'll be on their list right next to Loki. We have to be very careful how we handle this. No one else knows that Loki is here. I brought you here because your brother needs you. You can't help him if you're out smashing Shield bases."
Thor was breathing like a winded bull, and for one terrifying moment Tony thought the man hadn't heard a word he'd said, but then Thor lowered the hammer so that is hung loosely from one meaty fist.
"May I see him?"
"Absolutely."
()()()()
To say that Loki was aware of his surroundings would be a rather large stretch of the word aware. He had no distinct thoughts; instead his entire sense of understanding was based off of feelings and impressions. Loki was aware that he was in pain. He knew that moving even a finger lit up his nerves with fire, and that each and every breath was a struggle. He could not even open his eyes for they were weighed down.
He also knew that the heat was gone and that cold pressed in on him from all sides like an embrace. He was in pain, this was true, but each time his mind swam out of unconsciousness he found he hurt a little less.
Sometimes he heard noises, but they were muffled and he couldn't understand what the noises meant at all. It was hard to concentrate on anything for long anyways and Loki often slipped back into a state of unconsciousness.
And then he was made aware of something moving on his face, and a flare of pain as something was moved. A pressure from around his mouth and nose that he hadn't even known was there suddenly was gone, and the air that he breathed in smelled different. He took a few more breaths, getting used to the new smell that accompanied the air when suddenly something hard and wet and cold touched his lips. His breathing hitched as his senses struggled to understand what he was feeling, but the new object did not pull away. Instead it smoothly glided over his bloody chapped lips, the cold numbing the pain and leaving a trail of wetness wherever it touched. The wet leaked down into his mouth and his tongue automatically searched out the moisture. The water tasted wonderful, and Loki felt relief flood through him as it continued to slowly melt past his lips. The ice, for it had to be ice a part of him acknowledged, was moved slowly over his lips. He struggled to open his mouth further but the ice was suddenly gone.
He had no way of knowing that the ice had simply melted away. All he knew was that it was gone, and he was suddenly aware of how parched his throat was. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a ragged sounding whine. Loki withstood the pain it caused him to tilt his head to the side a fraction, his mouth opening wider and hoping whomever had given him the ice in the first place could understand that he wanted more. That he needed more.
And then more ice was placed on his mouth, and Loki closed his lips around it gratefully. While the water melted, soothing his dry throat, a warm weight settled on his head and began stroking his hair in a comforting manner. When that ice was gone, another piece replaced it, and then another. For a brief time, Loki knew peace.
I hope this answered some questions you guys had as to how Thor would take the news. Don't worry, there is more angst to come. Just a quick notice though, Next monday I don't think I will be updating this story. I've been writing like crazy, but unfortunately on two other stories. One is a one shot from a previous story of Lost Boys (Halloween Special!) and a two shot that was inspired by a norse kink that ate my brain. I will hopefully have something to post the following weekend though, do not fret, this story will continue! but if I don't see you, Happy Halloween!
