Well I've been here all night
And I'm watching you
Breathe in and breathe out
Is it really you or just a machine
-Things Left Unsaid by Disciple

Thor rested his head on his hands as he sat outside the operation room. This was a situation he never thought that he would be in. His eyes were red from tears as he stared at the floor. Never had he felt so scared. There were times where he fought for his own safety, but this was worse than that. It was worse because there was absolutely nothing he could do to help his brother. While the doctor's tried to save Loki's life, all he could was sit and wait. It was an awful feeling.

A nurse had come out a few minutes ago to inform them all on his situation. Open depressed skull fracture that was a centimeter down, gross contamination at the point of entry, heightened chances of infection, and heavy bleeding. Thor hung his head. If only he had just pulled the door off instead of ramming right through it. His brother wouldn't be in this situation if not for him. He would instead just be recouping his magical energy, but now he was bleeding to death. There was a real chance of Loki dying because it was impossible for him to heal right now.

"Thor, it'll be alright. These people are the best that SHIELD has to offer. They'll be able to heal your brother." Steve smiled weakly as he put his hand on Thor's shoulder. The Asgardian looked so weak now. Thor had always been obliviously confident. He was the person on the team that kept their spirits high because he would never give up. It was scary seeing him like this because it was as if he had completely lost faith.

"What if SHIELD's best is not good enough, Steve?" Thor let out a raspy sigh. That was the thought that had been scaring him. What if they weren't good enough? Thor would never be able to forgive himself for it. Loki might have been hurting himself, but he, and only he had caused the skull injury. No one else could be to blame but him. "I killed him," Thor whispered.

"Don't speak of him as if he's dead," Steve replied shortly. He stopped himself there before sighing. He was guilty as charged when it came to not liking Loki, but now... Steve was not sure if it was possible to dislike the broken man. He was broken, but not destroyed. There was still a chance that he would be alright, and a chance was all he needed. "He'll pull through this," he said confidently. Loki had to be alright.

"Ha, ha, ha." Steve turned around to see Tony leaned up against the wall with a despairing look in his eyes. "You think it's your fault he's like this? You've got to be joking me, thunderbird. There's no one else to blame, but me. I made an oversight that is costing Loki his life. It never should have happened, but it did because I wasn't careful." Tony laughed weakly and put a hand to his head, "Pepper always told me to be more careful, but I never listened. Oh lord, it's like back then happening all over again."

Steve frowned as he looked between his two friends. Both seemed to be falling apart before his very eyes now, he couldn't let that happen. "It's not your fault, Tony." He moved away from Thor to give Tony a small hug before looking at him in the eyes. "You couldn't have ever expected this to happen, so I can't see how you could be bla—"

"That's the point!" Tony yelled. He pushed Steve's comforting hands away, and stared at the man with a manic glow in his eyes. "I should have expected all the scenarios! It's my job to know everything that my tech could be used for. I should have foreseen this! If I did then Loki wouldn't have even had the chance to fall this far." He shook Steve violently as he said, "Don't you get it? My tech, my fault." His head dropped as he heaved tightly. "I wasn't careful enough."

"It's not your fault." Steve shook his head despondently. He didn't know how to convince the men that it was neither of their fault, but fault had to be placed on someone. If not them, then who? Steve didn't want to blame anyone, but he didn't have the words to explain it. It was something that Tony picked up on.

"There's no reason why I'm not guilty. I thought out every scenario, but it still winds up to one fact: if my technology wasn't there, he wouldn't be in this situation. Don't deny it, Rogers." Tony stepped away from Steve and leaned back against the wall. He sighed and rubbed his hands across his face. "Please, just don't push it. I need to know how he is, but don't... don't say anything."

Steve bit his lip, and nodded silently. There was nothing he could do. He looked down the hall to see Bruce talking with one of the nurses. After a few moments, Steve wandered over to talk to the man. Bruce turned to look at Steve and sighed, "He'll be out in a few minutes. He's stabilizing out, thank goodness."

Steve let out a breath he hadn't know that he had been holding, and he gave a small smile, "I'm sure the others will be glad to hear that. Do you know about his condition?"

"They elevated the skull back up and cleaned up the mess. Time will only tell if he gets infected though." Bruce looked over to the glowing red sign that read: 'Busy'. Ever since he had arrived, he had been pegging all the doctors for any information they could give him. It was an awful feeling, not knowing what was going on. It scared him to be perfectly obvious.

The Other Guy had never really taken to Loki, but over the time of Loki's imprisonment, Bruce had slowly begun to adjust to the man. It was slow progress, but Loki didn't seem completely evil. You had better come out alright, Bruce thought as he looked from Thor to Tony, everyone out here is worrying for you.

Author's Note: Poor Tony, Thor, and Loki! ):

I know I didn't include Clint and Nat in here. It's surprising since I adore them as characters, but I just didn't see how they would fit in. They'll appear later, along with Pepper, so don't worry. (:

As a note, I'm going to camp next week so this is just a warning in case I have to miss an update. I'm trying to write chapters in advance, but even if I do post, they may be shorter. I'll try to continue to post quality work for you all! Thanks for reading and perhaps leave a review? (;