A/N: So, so sorry for not updating in forever! Too much craziness with the holidays combined with writer's block is the worst combination in the world. Not sure if I've worked out that block just yet so I hope this chapter is okay.

Oh yeah, there's some stuff in this chapter that's sorta connected to a previous one (chapter five), but not so much that you have to go back and read it. Still, just thought I'd mention it.

Enough of my rambling, on with the update!

Chapter 13

Red.

Red.

Red...

"Th-Thor?"

The breeze without windows stopped. Loki stared at the vague form hidden in the shadows across the cell. He squinted, trying to see- needing to see it, to know if...if...

The figure stayed still, a statue of mockery standing in a corner and staring straight ahead, at Loki, or, perhaps, through him.

"Thor?" Loki said again, trying to sit up without success. "Brother, please..." he whispered, next trying to crawl but finding his body unable to move, frozen in his own corner.

It was too dark to see, too dark to be certain of what was there, but Loki could see the red; wasn't that the color of his brother's cape?

"Loki..."

The trickster shivered, stared, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Loki...are you there?" The words were barely a whisper, muffled and far away. "Loki, are you there?"

The figure's lips didn't move. Loki wished he could see better; light the way and maybe the bright would follow into his mind.

He tried to move again. Spikes of pain shot through his body as he shook violently, trying...trying with everything to move. "Please don't go..." he croaked as one hand managed to move in front of the other.

"Loki..." it said again, so quiet Loki thought he imagined it. "Where are you... Loki, are you there?"

Almost there, thought Loki. Almost there, please...

Dark boots surrounded by the red lingered before him.

Please, please-

He was so close.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The sound of groaning metal filled the small room as Thor stood up, looking about. "What is that?" he asked.

"Hell if I know," said Stark, standing as well.

The room vibrated slightly and the distinctive sound of water resounded through the walls.

"Ah!" exclaimed Stark in surprise, suddenly.

"What is it?" Thor rushed to him, thinking he knew something.

The genius looked down at a piece of his mask in his hands. "Oh nothing," he said casually. "I just got communications back up-"

"What? Then we can contact Fury and the others-?"

"Yeah, yeah, give me a sec, Lightning Rod."

Tony's flippancy was becoming irritating so Thor walked away, listening again for the strange noises. After a while, he said, "It sounds as if water is moving around us..."

"Hm? Oh yeah. Bottom of the 'carrier's probably flooded. Just another thing to celebrate on this lovely day- okay, here we go." He returned the piece to the rest of his helmet and shoved it in, then placed it over his head.

After a moment of silence, Thor asked, "Is it working? Did you repair it? Are they-"

"Hold your horses, it's still a bit sluggish..." He banged the side of his head. "Yep, there we go. Uh...Mayday, Mayday, red alert? Anybody home? Are all you guys taking a break right now because I am seriously going to- Oh hey, Nick."

Thor moved a little closer, as if he could hear.

"Nope, just me and Thor." A long pause. "Okay, well, no rush or anything, it's not like we've been stuck in here for- Alright, alright, fine." Another pause. "Yeah. Okay. You sure about that? Because I really don't want to open this door if-" He paused, listened for a moment, then grunted in frustration. "Yes, yes, I'll get Thor to do it. Fine. Right. Stark, out." He finally removed his helmet as Thor looked at him expectantly.

"What does he say?"

Stark ran a hand through his mussed hair. "Not much," he shrugged. "Except they've apparently managed to drain most of the water from this section." He smiled. "We're home free."

Thor's own smile grew. "Truly? You are not jesting with me?" But he didn't wait for an answer as he scooped up the billionaire in a tight hug.

"Uh..." The sound of Tony's breath wheezing through his chest made Thor put him down.

"I am sorry, friend." He patted Tony's shoulder as the smaller man stumbled, shaking his head.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's get outta here."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Thor's cape wasn't warm, of course, but Loki thought he could almost feel a warmth, like the soft cloth might be tethered, somehow, to the mighty thunder god, even from such a distance. Whatever distance it might be.

Loki couldn't help but rub his face across it every few minutes, smelling of it and imagining Thor's return.

...But would he return?

He had no way of knowing. The mortal- whoever it had been -had tried to comfort Loki, that much he understood now, but it didn't give him any answers. Where was Thor? Was he nearby but simply incapacitated? Unlikely. They would have brought Loki to him if he were still nearby. More than likely he had gone back to Asgard- No. That couldn't be true, either; the All-father would likely punish Thor for his disobedience, because there wasn't a chance that Loki had been freed by Odin. But perhaps the thunderer had gone back to Asgard, perhaps he was now imprisoned and so couldn't get back to Loki?

Feeling a spike of panic rush through him, Loki quickly attempted to stamp it out, to swallow the foolish idea. Because of course Thor wasn't that foolish. But what did that leave? A mission. Danger. Somewhere Thor could never take his useless, helpless sibling. But why hadn't the other Avenger gone, then, the one who gave Loki Thor's cape?

Too many questions, no way to get answers. He once again rubbed his face with the cloth, resigned, at least for now, to wait it out. It hadn't been that long yet, right?

.

Loki couldn't remember when it had first happened, except that it was always the same.

Red.

Thor.

Phantom whispers and hidden silhouettes.

He would lie on a table, screaming and wishing he were dead, then he would see it- him. Just standing, perhaps in a corner, perhaps over Loki, so near but as still as a statue. Watching. Always watching. Calling to him, 'Loki, are you there?'

Loki often cried because of it. He knew it wasn't Thor, not truly, but the sight of the shadowed figure made him wish the torture would remove his senses, to make it so he couldn't see or hear that tantalizing voice, hovering so near yet so far, gone forever but held before him as if he could touch it if he reached just a little further.

But he never could. Because Thor wasn't real. His words echoed in Loki's mind and lingered like a stab wound that wouldn't close.

Why does it taunt me so?

When Loki was in agony, he was there.

When Loki ate whatever he was given, he was there.

When Loki wept for mercy, he was there.

When darkness overtook his anguish and he smiled at the cold of his room, he was...there.

Why is he here?

Always standing nearby, Loki nearly went mad with the question.

Then, one day, when Loki lay in a pool of his own blood, the phantom appeared before him. As always, it did nothing but stand and watch, as if despair were written in its eyes and sorrow a cloak it wore. Loki didn't know why he did it, but he spoke.

"Why are you here?" he asked of the phantom.

It said nothing.

"Why do you torment me so?" he asked next.

Again, it said nothing, did nothing.

Loki wiped a tear from his eye, then asked a last question, but this was for himself. "Why do I question phantoms?" He looked straight at the dark silhouette, expecting it to do something, even when he knew it wouldn't. "You're not him, are you? You never were. Please, leave me be." He turned over and ignored it, and when he turned around, it was gone.

A moment passed, but even through silence so deep, he heard it speak again, 'Loki, where are you?'

Loki grabbed his head and screamed into the dark, like a knife upon glass he wished he could shatter.

.

Three days later, Loki saw the Serpent, but he couldn't speak anymore, couldn't ask questions. His eyes were darkened soon after. He still felt the phantom lingering, even then.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Stark complained. He couldn't not complain because he was wet, and tired, and tired of being with Thor, and his suit was trashed and he had had to leave it in the locker room.

Fortunately, Thor looked just as miserable, but probably not for the same reasons. He also looked determined, like he would tear through any wall that happened to stand in their way. Bad idea, thought Tony. Who knew how stable this level was?

Obviously, the elevators weren't going anywhere so they had to dig through piles of metal and debris to get to the stairs.

Suddenly, Thor spoke. "Did I ever tell you how I found Loki?"

Tony blinked and stopped. "Um, not in any detail..." But Thor didn't stop, he moved a large piece of metal that he lifted as if it were made of styrofoam.

"You know I searched for him, for months."

"Yeah..."

"Our mother," he threw another piece as it splashed in shallow water, "found him in the end. She had been searching as well, using every ounce of influence she had across the realms, calling on old alliances, forgotten friendships, debts yet to be repaid..." he trailed off, stopping.

After the quiet had gone on for too long, Tony asked, "Okay, so. She found him, what then?" Because Thor thinking too hard on things never seemed to end well.

He shook his head, then continued with his work. "Even with all my power, I could never have found him. He was under the wastes of Svartalfheim, in some sort of dungeon put there by Bor, my grandfather."

Tony scratched his head. "Okay. Dungeons. You guys have a crazy-"

"Can you believe this, Stark?" Thor interrupted, frowning fiercely and not looking at him. "Our own father would do something like this..." he trailed off, sighing, head falling.

Oh great. Now he's thinking again. "So what happened, Point Break?" Tony forced out. "You obviously got him out, so how'd you do that?"

Another heavy piece sent waves of shallow water splashing at their feet. Thor inhaled through his nose and squared his shoulders, still not looking at Tony. "I loved my father, Stark." Tony almost sighed in frustration, but continued moving the debris, instead, as the thunderer continued. "He was a good man, once, I know it. He cared for us- for Loki, but now, ever since..."

"...Ever since?" Tony tried, although he was sure Thor wasn't listening to him.

"Now I've disowned him. He may be the king of Asgard but he is not my father. When I lay awake at night, listening to Loki's strained breathing, I sometimes...almost..."

Tony raised both brows. "What?"

Thor frowned at the metal pieces before him. "I almost hear Loki in my head, as if I were there with him, in his dreams."

A long silence passed before Tony couldn't help it anymore. "You know, Thor, I love ya, big guy, but I'm not sure when a sign popped over my head that says, 'Tony Stark, Sounding Board for Musings of Norse Gods-'"

"Wait," Thor interrupted with a hand up as he looked at the ceiling.

Tony froze as Thor stared. "What?" he whispered.

"Sh." Thor let out a breath and smiled. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I believe our comrades are attempting to reach us." He smiled wider and threw an even larger metal piece behind them as Tony ducked out of the way.

So much for contemplating our navels.

.

"Ugh," Tony growled out as they rushed into the helicarrier's bridge. "Finally!"

Fury walked up to them, avoiding agents who rushed by. "Nice of you to join us, gentlemen."

"You're welcome," said Tony, bluntly. "No really, no need to thank us, we're heroes, we do this sort of thing all the time."

Nick stared, as if bored. "Most of our personnel got out but we're still digging through levels-"

"I must return to the tower," interrupted Thor, stepping up.

"What's that?" countered Fury.

"I give my sincerest apologies for not aiding you further, Director, but I will be returning to the tower now."

Tony tried his best not to react, mostly because he wasn't sure how he should be acting. Loki was, for now, a secret, and he wasn't sure what the appropriate response could be to Thor seemingly shirking his hero's duty. So Tony grimaced as Fury glanced at him, then back at Thor.

"I'm sorry-?"

"I have things to attend to; I am leaving." And, just like that, he turned to leave.

"Thor-" Fury walked after him, but the thunderer had already left. He turned to Tony, who still wore the grimace. "And just what the hell was that?"

Tony smiled- or tried to, at least, although it was still mostly a grimace. "What can I say? He's a god," he shrugged and turned away, hiding his face, because what the hell more could he say? I really need to find my spare suit before Nick starts interrogating me about this.

So Tony stiffly walked off the bridge leaving a, no doubt, baffled Nick Fury behind.

I need a drink.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

There weren't a lot of things that made Bruce cringe, after all that he'd seen, but this was one of them. He couldn't help looking at them, Jarvis' scans of Loki's injuries. He had never seen anyone more scarred than the poor god. Clearly, as horrible as his outward scars were, the internal ones were worse. He couldn't identify how some of them could have even been done. He had healed by now, but the scans were a snapshot of the torture he'd endured, saved forever in some form, in both the god's mind- Bruce was certain -but also on paper, as if keeping records of such things was important. It wasn't. It always made Bruce feel sick.

Sighing, he closed the file and ran a tired hand across his face. What did they put you through, your own people? Punishment was one thing, this was...something else. Could his own father have hated him that much? He was adopted, yes, but... He knew even fathers by blood could be- Stop thinking about it, stop. Just stop now. Bringing out the other guy right now, or any time inside the tower, was always a bad idea.

He sat in silence for a long time, but the quiet of his thoughts, echoed in the lab, weren't helping.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Are these files still encrypted?"

"As you asked, yes."

"Good," he nodded absently. "Good."

But the images of scars and brutalized tissue wouldn't leave his mind, burned into his thoughts until he dreamed them at night. It really wasn't helping his calm. He breathed in through his nose, then out. Then did it again. Then again. The subdued hum of the air system turning on drew Bruce's eyes. He listened to it, allowed it to center him.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Has Thor tried to look at any of these files? Or asked about them?"

"No, sir."

Bruce thought for a moment, furrowing his brow, then asked, "Does he even know how to ask for them, or search for them..?"

"He has already learned to use a computer so I assume he could ask if he so desired. However, he may not have had the time given recent events."

"Right. Right..." He rubbed the side of his cheek as he continued staring at nothing.

A long silence passed as Bruce's chair squeaked with his nervous movement.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

A pause. Bruce let out a breath before asking: "Do you think I should tell Thor?"

Another pause, this time long enough that Bruce wondered if the AI had even heard him. Then, almost quietly, "He is his family, sir."

Bruce felt relief flood his body. He didn't know why. Jarvis was just a machine, an AI, so why did he feel so free now? Even with the cryptic answer, he knew exactly what he should do.

He nodded, decision made.

"Jarvis?" He looked to the ceiling. "Thanks." The quiet hum of the air system stopped.

"Yes, sir."

A/N: Again, I hope this chapter is okay. I'd like to say I won't take too long with the next update but I don't want to get your hopes up. ;) Still, I've got the next few chapters planned out so maybe that'll help with getting the next update out sooner.