XIV

To say Sherlock was furious would have been quite the understatement. He couldn't find an appropriate word for the amount of seething rage boiling within him. One thing was for sure, whoever did this to his Loki would pay dearly for every mark. And right now, the god's former family seemed like a very good suspect. "What the hell have you done to him…?" He hissed at the thunder god.

"I can assure you this was not by my hand nor any in Asgard. If it was, I would be wearing far more blood. We need to get him inside." Sherlock nodded curtly, not entirely convinced of all of Asgard's innocence, and took a place supporting Loki's free side. He was careful not to irritate any of Loki's wounds; a tricky task when it seemed inch of the god's skin had been flayed open. As it was, he wasn't entirely sure just how conscious or unconscious his lover actually was so if he could avoid causing him more pain, he was going to do his damnedest to.

"John, clear off the kitchen table."

"On it." John moved ahead of them taking the steps two at a time as the god and mortal carried the trickster up the stairs, carefully climbing sideways as the staircase was far too narrow to accommodate all three of them. Sherlock tried very hard to not allow how still Loki had been thus far to panic him. He knew Asgardians were far more durable than humans. But even the gods had to have a limit…

"You still haven't told me what happened."

"We do not know. A servant found him just dumped on the palace doorstep, bound and bleeding." It was clear from his voice that the thunderer was just as furious about his younger brother's condition as Sherlock was. "We had thought….. He was already unconscious by the time he was found. Here." Thor carefully heaved Loki onto the kitchen table which Mary and John had turned into a makeshift operating table.

"Any theories on who could have done this?" Sherlock asked as he sat beside his beloved.

"I wish I did, Detective. But I'm afraid Loki has many enemies. Any one of them would have motive to do this…"

"Well, that really narrows the list down. Move, Sherlock," John ordered in an authorial voice, setting a small medical kit on the table. "I'm not sure how much I can really do, but maybe I can at least get his mouth open." Sherlock found himself gripping Loki's unresponsive hand as the good doctor pulled out a wicked looking pair of surgical scissors.

"Shouldn't we try to numb him first?" Mary asked, giving Sherlock's arm a comforting rub. "You know, try to dull the pain a bit? That's probably what knocked him out in the first place. And we don't know how long he'll stay asleep…"

"I don't think any of our pain killers will affect him. The last time I tried to give him morphine his body burned through it within half an hour." He pulled on a pair of gloves, assuming a surprisingly comforting military and surgical stoicism. "Besides we don't really have time to waste on finding a sedative that'll work and set in. God knows how long these have been festering for."

"I don't see any signs of infection," Sherlock noted. "And he hasn't reverted to his Jotun state."

"It could still be there, Sherlock. Not all infections have clear signs. Besides we have to account for diseases that aren't from Earth." The detective nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Loki's face. If it weren't for the black cord stitching his lips closed, he could swear the god of mischief was sleeping peacefully. John must've read the concern on Sherlock's face, for he assured him, "Look. I'll try to make this as painless for him as I can. But with his current condition, he'll be in pain no matter what I do."

"Just get it over with." The longer he stared at those angry stitches, the more pissed off the detective became. This act of cruelty had definitely been calculated. While Loki was indeed a proficient sorcerer and fighter, his true strength lied in his Silvertongue. Sherlock had lost count of how many times the god had used his talented tongue to save them both. Whoever did this was clearly aware of Loki's talents and was determined to silence him. Something in the back of Sherlock's mind told him that this was meant to humiliate the proud god rather than actually silence him.

The slightest of twitches against his palm brought Sherlock out of his irate reverie. An almost invisible tremor was building in Loki's hand just as John began to cut at the cords silencing the god. "John, wait." If Loki was indeed waking up, the last thing he needed was someone cutting at him as he came to, even if it was a friend doing it. John had managed to get one stitch cut before Loki's eyes began to slowly flutter open. Sherlock quickly shoved John out of the way, ensuring he was the only thing in the god's field of vision.

"Loki?" His eyes did not open, but the god's head rolled to the side a bit, a soft groan emitting from his sealed lips. "Loki… You're home now… you're safe…" The detective was careful to soften his voice, certain he'd end up across the room if the trickster panicked. And the last thing he needed was guilt from accidentally breaking his back. "You're safe here, love…"

"And they say Sherlock Holmes doesn't have a heart."

"Shut up, John!" That did the right trick in the worst way. Loki's eyes shot open in panic and Sherlock barely had time to shove John further out of the way before Loki began to thrash, nearly knocking Sherlock to the floor. Luckily, Sherlock was accustomed to panicked clients. "Out! Everybody get out!" They couldn't know how well Loki could control his magic in this state and Sherlock had been on the ugly end of such spells enough times to not fear getting hit. "Loki! Loki, it's me! It's Sherlock!"

Sherlock managed to straddle the god's hips, pinning his lower half to the table. Well, that was two less limbs to worry about. With any luck, he was managing to do so without hurting Loki. His next task was to catch the two fists flailing for whatever they could possibly hit. The detective did manage to catch them, but not before Loki's right fist made very painful contact with his eye and lip simultaneously. If he wasn't so concerned about the traumatized god beneath him, Sherlock would be marveling at how Loki had managed such a feat.

"Loki, easy easy!" He carefully interlaced his fingers with Loki's as the trickster's struggles began to die down. Apparently, the sudden burst of energy had been short lived. "There you are… Easy, you're safe now," Sherlock cooed, carefully climbing off his lover. No need to completely pin someone who wasn't struggling down. He didn't let go of Loki's hands, however, partly because he was hoping the god was aware of who was holding him for the gesture to be comforting. Also, Loki had such a vice grip on Sherlock's fingers the detective wouldn't be surprised if a few bones were broken.

"Loki, it's me, Sherlock... You're home now…" He began to run his thumbs along the trembling hands gripping his own. It seemed to help a little as slowly the trembling ceased, the only proof left was the god's heavy breathing and his apparent determination to keep his eyes shut. "You can open your eyes, love. You're safe now." Loki shook his head, tightening his grip on Sherlock's hands, finally reaching a point that actually made the detective hiss in pain.

Loki's eyes did snap open at that, seeming genuinely surprised to indeed be insider 221b Baker Street. And even more so that he was looking up at his mortal beloved. Sherlock smiled, relieved to see those beautiful green orbs once again. "Welcome back." The god's eyes finally focused on Sherlock's face as he loosened his grip on the detective's hands, the slightly freed corner of his mouth attempting to twitch upwards. The reminder of his lover's current state made the sleuth frown. "John needs to finish cutting those stitches off…" At once Loki's eyes widened and the valiant corner of his mouth drooped as panic tried to set in again. "Love, you can't live with this and John's better qualif-" Loki began to shake his head violently. "Loki, we can't leave your lips sealed. You know John won't hurt you. I think he's actually still afraid of you." The god just shook his head harder. Sherlock frowned.

"Would you rather I do it then?" Through he was typically more than happy to defer to John's experience; Sherlock did have some medical knowledge stored in his mind palace. Besides it wasn't like he would be performing open heart surgery on the god. He would only be cutting the stitches; it shouldn't require too much work. Loki nodded slowly, reluctantly releasing his mortal's hands. Luckily, in his haste to get Mary and himself away from the distressed deity, John had left his med kit complete with those evil looking surgical scissors on the table. "I'll try to make this as painless as I can…" Loki rolled his eyes, a tiny glimmer of his true personality shining through. "Oh humor me, you smart ass." Said smart alec just quirked an eyebrow up at him. "Look, I'll try not to make you hurt any worse than you already do then. Better?" That corner quirked up again. "Good." He pressed a kiss to Loki's forehead, telling himself that it was only meant to comfort Loki. "Now hold still."

Somehow the god did manage to hold still and thus the detective was able to cut quickly with as little extra pain as possible. Loki only indicated his suffering be squeezing onto Sherlock's sides, usually whenever he was able to pull a stitch out. Otherwise, the trickster remained still and silent. Sherlock concentrated on his task, keeping a cloth close at hand to catch and blood the dripped from the reopened wounds. It proved a difficult task with a pair of still slightly panicked emerald eyes focused on his busted lip. "You're doing great, love," he encouraged, trying to take Loki's mind off his lip. "We're halfway there."

Loki merely nodded slightly, not bothering to test out his newly freed half a mouth. He seemed hung up on the bruise forming on Sherlock's cheek. Sherlock rolled his eyes. "My cheek is the very least of your concerns, Love. I'll finish this but I'm going to have to insist you let John clean up everything else." When Loki's eyes widened, Sherlock continued, "We're very lucky this has gone so well. I wouldn't want to risk jinxing it and screwing something up." He smiled half because Loki's eyes lit up a little at the detective's jab at himself and half due to his ability to finally pull the last offensive stitch from his lover's mouth. "There we go. Free at last."

Loki stretched his mouth a bit, opening and closing it several times. Sherlock watched while attempting to gently scrub some of the grime from his lover's face. After a few unnerving minutes of silence, a raspy voice found its way from the god of mischief's throat. "St-stay…?" The detective grinned. If he had been that sort of person, he might have actually shed a tear of joy. Hearing his god's voice again, no matter how disused, was enough to convince him that, in the long run, Loki would be alright.

"Of course, my love."