Thank you all for the reviews! You guys certainly made my day! ;p

I hope you guys enjoyed the Hogun/Loki pairing, especially in the memory snippets. The one in this chapter should be the last one for now and these snippets will come into play later in the story.

WARNING : None.

"I have to go now, Loki. Will you see me off?" Hogun called out to the young prince who was reading on the bed.

"Yes, of course," Loki replied as he sauntered to the door.

Hogun opened his arms and pulled Loki to him. He nuzzled Loki's nose affectionately and said, "Give us a kiss." Loki complied and brushed his lips on Hogun's as the warrior caught his lips in a passionate kiss.

"Will you miss me while I'm gone?" Hogun asked as he caressed Loki's cheeks lightly with the back of his palm.

Loki rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, but mainly because I'll be bored." Hogun laughed and pecked Loki on the tip of his nose.

Hogun nuzzled Loki's nose again, smiled and insisted, "Miss me while I'm away." Hogun did not wait for a reply before he pulled the young prince into another deep lingering kiss. With a light and playful slap on Loki's backside, Hogun was off to his quest.

And later that morning, Loki sent the servant to Volstagg with an invitation for a short visit.

Sif did not know what to expect when Thor told her to bring Loki to Stark Tower but she stepped out of the portal into a spacious room with many luxurious furnishings. Even though Sif had listened to many tales about the Avengers from Thor, Sif had never actually been to Stark Tower before, nor had she actually seen Tony Stark or the other Avengers. She did not even consider to have any type of expectations before she stepped through the portal at the other side of the universe. She did not even dare to put Loki down in case she needed to make a hasty exit.

"Sir, I detected two unknown intruders in the living room," a disembodied voice sounded from above her.

Sif looked around bewildered and as she tried to figure out the ghostly voice, two figures ran into the room and came into her view.

"Hey lady, who are you? What are you doing here?" the man with the mustache and goatee shouted at her. The blonde one stood beside him as he held a fighting stance.

"My name is Sif and I am a friend of Thor's. He has sent me here to ask for your help," Sif explained courteously, "I do not have much time, perhaps a few minutes before the portal closes. I am looking for a Man of Iron."

The men looked at each other and the blonde one asked, "Why didn't Thor come to us himself?" while the one with the mustache and goatee said, "I'm Ironman."

"Thor is otherwise indisposed," Sif said as she nodded to the Ironman.

The men shared a look before the not-Ironman said, "I'm Steve and that's Tony, uh, Man of Iron." Tony gave her a flirtatious wave.

"So, who's that with you?" Steve asked as he narrowed he eyes towards the cloaked bundle on her shoulder.

Sif sighed and lowered Loki onto the floor and said, "Thor needs your help. Please, will you help us?"

Tony and Steve gave the bundle on the floor a look over and gasped at the image of the battered figure. Steve exclaimed,"Is that... LOKI?" while Tony echoed his response in surprise, "What?!"

Sif nodded and said softly, "Aye, this is Loki. Please... he's hurt. Is there a better place to lay him down?"

Tony exclaimed at the request, "WHAT? NO?!" while the kind-hearted super soldier said, "Put him on the couch, here, let me help."

Even though Loki was a villain that they defeated not too long ago, Steve's heart ached a little at the sight of Loki's bruised face. He went over to Sif and helped to move Loki over to the couch. Sif kept her hand on the cloak to keep it from exposing Loki's naked form underneath it.

Tony was curious and most importantly, he wanted to know why the trickster was in his home, "Okay, so you want to get us up-to-speed here, lady?"

"As a punishment for his wrong-doings, the Allfather had stripped Loki off his magic. He also gave Loki to Hogun to be taught humility and respect," Sif turned towards Tony Steve and explained.

Tony narrowed his eyes and asked slowly, "Gave? As in gave, gave?" Steve looked at Tony quizzically, he obviously did not understand what Tony meant.

Sif nodded and answered with a simple, "Yes. Loki belongs to Hogun while he is a prisoner of Asgard, to be used as he pleased."

Steve's eyes widen at the explanation and Sif continued, "But something happened, I'm not sure what, and Hogun hurt him badly. Thor was keeping Hogun busy while I escaped with Loki."

Steve frowned and asked, "But how did you get here?"

And Sif answered, "We took a portal. If they know about his escape, they will start the search for him on Asgard first. No one knew about the portal that we took, except for Thor."

Tony decided to get to the point of their 'visit' and asked, "So, what do you want us to do with him? Detain him? Keep him prisoner? Give him away to somebody else to use?"

Sif sighed and said, "We just need a place to keep him hidden while we figure things out with Hogun or the Allfather. I know Hogun, he is a very short-tempered person, to leave Loki with him now is akin to leave the prince to torture. I know it is a lot to ask for, but he is Thor's brother, please, will you help him? I need to know. I may have only a few more minutes before the portal closes."

"Wait a second, what about that all-seeing guy? Won't he see Loki here?" Tony asked with a frown.

"Ah, yes, Heimdall, my brother. Do not worry. That bracelet will shield Loki from my brother's sight. It was mine. He and Thor had one too. Loki made and spelled it for us when he was very young, and we had used it for our many adventures, particularly on those that we did not want anyone to know of," Sif explained as she pointed to the bracelet that she put on Loki before they started their journey to the portal.

"That will shield him from Heimdall? You sure?" Steve asked in concern. He really did not want to deal with an army of Asgard should they decide to come for their prisoner.

"Yes, I am sure. Please... will you keep him safe until Thor comes for him?" Sif pleaded.

Tony groaned and whined, "Fiiiine... what do we need to do?"

Sif sighed in relief, smiled and said, "Just tend to his wounds. He should be fine. He's a Jotunn, his healing strength may be weaker than an Asgardian, but he will still heal."

"Okay, but if anything bad happens to him, do not hold us responsible," Tony warned as he shook a finger at Sif.

"I understand. A word of caution, do not let him leave with anybody else but me or Thor. We do not know the nature of this misunderstanding," Sif responded. In other words : 'We do not know who to trust.'

"Should we worry about him, you know, if he attack us or something?" Steve asked, ever the responsible one.

Sif frowned and said, "I do not believe so. He is without his magic. He is considerably less stronger than when you battled him before."

Tony continued with his warning, "We'll hold you and Thor responsible if we died or maimed during this babysitting gig."

To which Sif smiled and said as she walked towards the shimmering portal, "I have to go. The portal is closing. Thank you very much for your help. Please tell Loki that his brother will come for him when it is safe to do so. Please do your best to keep him safe."

And then she was gone. Tony and Steve stood in the middle of the living room and they turned their attention to the trickster who was laying on the couch.

Tony spread his arms and asked, "So Cap, now what?"

"Let's get him cleaned up," Steve suggested. Tony nodded and they walked towards the couch. Steve bent down and begun to peel the cloak off of the trickster and as he did, he gasped and said, "Umm... Tony, I think he's naked."

Tony went to Steve's side and he was shocked to see the bruises, wounds and dried blood on Loki's body and said softly, "Oh my god, what the hell happened to him?"

"You think that Hogun guy did this?" Steve asked as he checked for more serious wounds.

Tony rolled his eyes and replied, "Well, someone beat the crap out of him."

"I think he was sexually assaulted too," Steve said softly as he pointed to the trail of dried blood on both of Loki's thighs.

"Shit," a one-worded comment from Tony. Steve sighed loudly and both of them stood up. They were too horrified to keep looking at Loki's battered body. Sure, the trickster was an enemy of the world, but rape as a form of punishment is a big no-no in both of their books.

"Do we need Banner?" Steve asked as he kept his gaze away from the unconscious Norse god.

"I think we need Banner," Tony agreed with the suggestion, "Well, it's either Banner or the hospital."

Just then, Loki stirred. He whimpered at the aches and pains on his body and like before, his swollen eyes opened a sliver.

"Oh hey, I think he's waking up." Steve said as he pointed at the naked figure on the couch. Steve then hurriedly covered the trickster with the cloak to help him preserve his dignity.

"Thor?... Brother?..." Loki whispered hoarsely, pain evident in his voice.

Steve patted Loki's arms slowly as a sign of comfort and softly said, "Hey, Loki... Thor is not here. But you're safe. It's safe now..."

Loki blinked and looked at Steve in confusion. His breathing fasten as he sensed that something was wrong. He then asked in slow but panicky whispers, "Where's Thor?... Where am I?... Who are you?"

Uh oh... what's going on with Loki? Do stay tuned...

As always, thank you for reading and please feed the review trolls! ;D