Don't leave me alone
Cause I barely see at all
Don't leave me alone, I'm
Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
-Falling in the Black by Skillet

It was rare that he ever had time to himself. Either one of the Avengers was skulking behind him like a dog or carefully placed camera watched every move he made. He could tell that they were positioned to follow him by the way only moved when he moved. Loki didn't doubt that Tony had hacked JARVIS into the camera system just to watch him.

Ever since Bruce had come in that day, the man had been getting him to stand and walk around the hospital. Supposedly, he was getting better. He didn't feel like it though. He was back to the way it used to be. Following instructions and trying to please others, it was droll. It had been a few weeks since he had tried to take his own life. Perhaps it was a bit foolish, but sometimes he still wished that Odin would walk through the door. It never happened though, and he chided himself for hoping that it would. Why was he still clinging onto Odin? He should have given up long ago, but he could never truly bring himself to do it.

Perhaps he just wanted someone to say that they loved him and for them to mean it. He had had enough of people saying that they cared, but when a time came when he needed support, they turned a blind eye. Odin, Frigga, Thor, Heimdallr, and all of the other bloody Asgardians had turned a blind eye to his pain. Why couldn't they ever mean what they said? He was the god of lies, the liesmith, but why did all the other Asgardians lie so well?

Loki sighed as he stared out the hospital window. He was on the fourteen floor. It was strategically placed so that he couldn't escape. It wasn't as if he'd really try anyways. What would he do when he got out? Try to launch a civil war? With what army would he even do that? He didn't even have a scepter anymore. He felt weak and helpless. It was disgusting.

Green eyes trailed down to the cuffs on his wrists. A few days ago, Stark had come in to give him different restraining bracelets. Apparently these ones not only kept track of his energy core to stop draining him when he reached a critical point, but they also sent out alerts to Tony when it reached that point. It would severely impair his attempts to drain himself in the future. He'd have to drop a few things in front of the doors and windows to make sure they couldn't come in next time. The metal cuffs were clamped tightly around his wrists. They were better than the IVs that they had him hooked up to before, but not much better.

"Brother," Thor said as he entered the room, "I've come to bring you back to the mansion. Are you well enough to walk to the car?" Thor said his words carefully as to try not to disturb the younger god. He had spent a lot of time over the past few weeks thinking about what had happened during the fight with his father. He still couldn't believe what he had found out. He still didn't know how to reconcile the fact that his father was needlessly cruel. It was so different from everything that he had thought of his father in the past; he just didn't understand how it could be true.

"Of course I am able. I'm not an invalid, Odinsson." Thor flinched. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be called Odin's son anymore. The man had obviously proved himself unworthy of being a father figure.

"Call me Thor." The blonde man looked off to the side as he said it. He still felt immensely guilty for not recognizing what Odin had been doing earlier on. There were a lot of 'if only's in his head. If only he had noticed something was wrong with Loki earlier. If only he hadn't been blind to his father's faults. If only he had let Loki win once and a while in their childish games. But none of those things could be changed now.

Loki raised a brow at Thor. Was he renouncing Odin's name now? Well that was a new development. "Whatever you call yourself is no consequence of mine, but I will call you that if you wish." Loki pulled away from the windowsill and turned to stand up. He still wobbled slightly when he stood, but tried to conceal it through a confident facade. Laying down in a bed for a week and a half would get anyone down. It wasn't as much that his balance was off as he was just weak. Even his body was betraying him now.

He stopped himself from running a hand through his hair in annoyance. He was still missing a good chunk of his hair on one side. Considering the new cuffs on his wrists, Loki had found that any attempts to accelerate his hair growth ended with electric shocks. And with Thor being a danger with anything to do with magic, he would just have to wait for it to grow back the normal way.

Loki walked past Thor over to his bed where the other god had placed a small stack of clothes. Loki had been wearing hospital gowns ever since he had been dumped in this rat hole and was glad he would finally be out of the disgusting material. He noticed Thor's eyes watching every step and gave a sigh. Thor would either think of him as a fragile piece of china or a lying frost giant. He switched between the two and sometimes Loki wished he would just stick with the latter. It would save him the nuisance of trying to predict the man.

"So, are you going to leave me to get dressed?" Loki called over his shoulder arrogantly. Thor started before nodding hurriedly and rushing out of the room. Loki frowned a bit at that. Thor hadn't even vocalized his reply. Normally the man would boom out some needlessly long response to the most trivial of question. Loki shook it off as just being an off day for the man and got into his casual wear.

It was surprisingly hard to bend over, and Loki found himself falling a good few times before giving up and sitting on the ground. After he finished dressing, he leaned back against the metal framing of his bed. Leaving the hospital would be like leaving the frying pan to enter the fire. He would be able to put a distance between himself and urgent care, but he would also be surrounded by all of the Avengers. And that was a trouble in of itself. They would be watching him like hawks to make sure he didn't try anything again. It was sure to be a nuisance.

He wobbled over to the door and twisted the handle before stepping outside. Thor was standing just outside with his hands clasped behind his back. A small bag containing Loki's belongings sat on the ground beside the huge man. Thor dived to scoop up the goods as Loki walked out of the door. "Shall we go then, brother?" Thor offered an arm to Loki, who shied away from the hand, disdaining to accept anyone's help. Thor sighed at his brother's reluctance, but hovered near the man in case he ever stumbled.

Loki found the action insufferable because it assumed that he was weak. He rolled his eyes before walking past the other god and towards the elevator. It felt like deja vu. They were going to be riding in an elevator again. And Loki just knew that Thor wouldn't miss the opportunity to talk to him just like last time. He sighed as he was led inside of the metal container, and as the doors closed, Thor began to speak.

"I'm sorry about what has happened to you brother. I didn't know until just a week ago... I've refused to return to Asgard unless the Allfather apologizes for what he has done." Thor gripped his arm tightly as he looked into the reflective surface of the wall.

"Have you now," Loki replied smoothly. He made no appearance of shock, but inside, he was reeling. Thor would denounce Odin just for him? Thor was a father's boy. It made no sense for him to do that. A lot of things seemed to make no sense nowadays.

"Brother, listen to me. Will you forgive me for my ignorance?" Thor pleaded. He just needed to hear the words: I forgive you.

Loki paused and stared as his reflection as the elevator moved slowly down. He cursed the machine for moving so slowly. He sighed and said, "Time is the only cure. The longer an injury grows, the longer it will take to heal. A week is not enough time for this to fade away. It has been growing for thousand long years, Thor. A sorry doesn't work. Not after everything that has been said."

He looked away from Thor's downcast face and closed his eyes. He had always wanted to hear an apology, but Thor was not the one it needed to come from. He wouldn't forgive Thor, not yet. He needed to know what Loki had felt when he looked up in Odin's eyes to hear the single word that broke him: no. A single word that symbolized all that Odin felt towards him. No, Loki would never be able to do anything to satisfy me. No, I had never loved him enough to give him a chance. Until Thor knew what it was like to hear the word "no", like he did, then there could be no understanding, no forgiveness.

Author's Note: I hope you liked this chapter! I'm finally dragging Loki out of the hospital and back to the mansion. He'll be transitioning out of the sick environment(hospitals make you depressed, trust me), and into a livelier place. But only time will tell if this makes a difference. (;

Brownie: Glad you like it! (: I thought Bruce was good friend material for Loki. He's caring, but also authoritative.

Review if you liked it?