Steve knocked on the bathroom door and waited until he was given permission to enter. He glanced at the tub. Loki was leaning back, his head resting on the rim. He looked disgusted. Steve sincerely hoped the man was disgusted with himself, but he wasn't counting on it. "You really blew it with your brother, you know."

Loki turned to look at him. "He'll get over it. My so-called brother is worse than a beaten cur; he always comes back for more."

"I don't think so, not this time. He said he's done with you." Loki shrugged in response. Steve shook his head in disbelief. "Fine, you can think what you want. You ready to get out of there?"

"Yes." The tone was grudging and the disgusted look intensified.

"Okay." He looked around the room, grabbed a towel from the rack and spread it out on the vanity bench. "I'll get down there, you put your arm over my shoulder, and I'll stand and pull you up."

Loki frowned at him. "Keep in mind I'm a great deal heavier than you would think."

"Are you heavier than Thor? I can lift him."

"Ah, no. But my weight is proportionate to his."

"Got it, I'll expect that then." He squatted down beside the tub, and then stood once Loki had a firm hold on his shoulders. It wasn't easy, by any means, but it was manageable. He held on while Loki stepped over the high edge of the tub, then guided him over to the bench and reversed the process. "Okay, here're more towels, I'll leave you to get dry."

"Where are my garments?"

"Uh, well...they were pretty much trashed. Thor took your armor, or what was left of it back home. He said you wouldn't be able to fix it and that he'd get it rebuilt. Everything else was scorched and shredded." Steve shrugged. "I'm pretty sure they sent someone clothes shopping for you, but I'll have to check on that."

"Fine."

…

Kara walked into her bedroom, rubbing her overly full stomach and almost walked into Steve Rogers. "What's up?" she asked.

"He needs clothes. Did Miss Potts say if the order she called in was delivered?"

"When are you going to start calling her Pepper? She thinks you don't like her, you know."

"What? I'm just trying to be respectful."

"Then respect her wishes and call her Pepper. I know; that wouldn't have been appropriate in your time, but try, okay?" She moved past him and opened the door to the walk-in closet. It was cavernous and relatively empty. Despite her forays into the shopping district with her new friends, she hadn't bought much, and her original wardrobe wasn't particularly extensive. A few outfits that Pepper had ordered in for Loki, much to Tony's disgust, hung in the empty section, and other miscellaneous men's clothing articles were folded on top of the shoe cupboard. Kara grabbed a set of pajamas and hesitated over the underwear choices. "Hmm, I'll let him pick," she muttered and selected both boxers and briefs from the stack.

Steve was sitting in the armchair when she emerged. "I'll take it in," he offered.

"Just make sure he's covered. I want to have a word with him about Thor, at the scene of the crime, so to speak."

He shrugged. "If you say so, Doc." Steve pushed the bathroom door open and looked inside before turning back to her. "As good as he can get without clothes," he told her.

"Thanks, Steve. I'll call you when he's ready to go back to bed."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kara smiled as she watched their WWII era soldier practically march out of the room. Next to the attitudes of the rest of the team, his polite formality, particularly with women, was refreshing. Her smile faded as she entered the bathroom. From all reports, Loki's attitude would be a far cry from polite. "Hello," she greeted. "I hear you're ready for these."

Loki looked up at her. "Why are you in here?" he snapped.

She held up the pajamas and underwear. "Bringing you clothing. You did want to dress, didn't you?" The temptation to stare at him like a blushing schoolgirl was overwhelming. On the videos she had reviewed he looked almost slight next to his brawnier brother, Seeing him prone and helpless had strengthened that impression. Upright and all but naked, he looked entirely different; he was actually muscular in the way of swimmers or runners. Loki was lean and hard and, despite the still prominent bruising, damn near perfect. This was going to be…interesting.

He sighed and she could feel impatience whip through him, followed by a cocky sense of superiority. "See something you like, doctor?" he asked as one corner of his mouth quirked up.

"No, not really." Kara forced herself not to react to the shock she could see in his narrowing eyes. She stepped closer. "Everything else seemed to be healing so well, but the bruising is still extensive." Shrugging, she continued. "I suppose I was expecting miracles there, as well. How do you feel?"

…

Loki stared at the woman. Had he mistaken her interest? Was it truly only that of a doctor for her patient? She was carefully examining the bruising on his back, abdomen and chest. "Well enough, considering," he finally managed. "I am still exhausted."

"Not surprising. You're probably starving, too. We did have an IV in you for fluids off and on, but now that you're at least somewhat mobile, you should have something more solid." She pressed gently against his solar plexus, just above the meng mein. "Any pain?"

"It's tender, but no more than that." He looked down at her slender fingers as she spread them out and then laid her palm against his skin. She crouched closer and Loki felt her cool touch at the base of his spine. The mixture of lavender and vanilla he had scented earlier returned. "What are you doing?" he asked as he felt energy emanate from her palms.

"Sending more clean energy into your solar plexus and base chakras to promote healing; there isn't anything more I can do for your meng mein without Thor. Driving him off was really stupid, you know. You still need him."

He grimaced. "I did nothing to drive him off," he said irritably.

"No? You didn't tell him he wasn't worthy to be more than your body servant?"

"I said no such thing."

The woman frowned at him. He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to comment. "No, but you implied it. And don't tell me that you didn't intend for him to take what you did say to mean what he understood. I can feel how satisfied you are over it."

Interesting, she wasn't just a healer; she was some sort of empath. The gifts were often paired in Asgardians, but this woman was no Asgardian. "I have no more care for his feeling slighted now than he ever felt for slighting me."

She stood and stepped back. "I was wrong. You're not stupid. You're childishly stupid." His jaw dropped at the insult. "Do you have any idea what he did for you?" she asked.

"No, but I'm certain you will tell me."

"Don't smirk at me. I'm already annoyed with you and you really don't want to piss me off."

He chuckled. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"A warning." She took a step back and gestured to the rather feminine décor of the room. "Do you have any idea why we have you in my suite? Tony does have a number of unoccupied guest rooms."

"So that the healer could keep a closer eye on me?"

"No. This suite can be locked down from the outside. The walls you see are a façade. Once the lockdown order is given, it's as secure as the drop cage on the Helicarrier. Well, without the drop feature, of course."

Loki stared at the annoyed redhead. "And why are you assigned such a room, my lady?"

"For the same reason they're not worried about leaving me alone with you. I may not be physically strong, and I'm not a warrior, but I can take down any of the Avengers." She turned on her heel and stalked out the door.

"Interesting."

…

"Steve, I blew it."

He looked up as Dr. Gunnarssen burst into the kitchen. "Excuse me?"

She sighed. "I swore I wouldn't let him provoke me, but his condescending attitude pissed me off. Doesn't he know better than to bait a redhead? Crap. Idiot is all 'woe is me, Thor treated me like dirt so that entitles me to treat him the same way'. That kind of bullshit just annoys the hell out of me."

Steve blinked, Dr. G didn't generally use bad language. "How is it you get along with Tony Stark?"

"What? Oh, it's not the same. Tony doesn't feel sorry for himself. It's people who have so much self pity they can't see straight that get to me. So, he was adopted, big deal. People took him in, gave him a life of privilege, and that wasn't enough. I…oh, hell. I just need to cool down."

"Okay. I'll go make sure he gets dressed and gets into bed." Dr. G had thrown herself down in a chair and was staring out the window at the city. He shook his head and headed back down the hall.

Steve entered the suite in time to hear a crash from the bathroom. A flurry of words in a language he didn't understand was followed by a very English "Bloody hell." He bit back a chuckle and forced himself to stop grinning before he opened the bathroom door. Loki was on the floor, wearing the briefs and had the pajama bottoms half on and half off.

"Can I give you a hand?" he asked.

Loki glared up at him. Started to speak, then stopped and sighed. "Yes. Damned floor is slippery."

To be fair there was water on the tiled floor, it was probably just enough to cause problems for a man who was already struggling with his balance. "Sorry about that. I should have looked for a floor mat."

The fallen man frowned fiercely, then shrugged. "I should have waited for assistance," he allowed, however grudgingly.

Steve nodded. Sounded like Loki was trying not to alienate him along with everyone else. Good thing. "Okay, why don't we shift you around so you can get both legs in those pants, and then we can get you up." It took some maneuvering, but the pajamas bottoms were donned and he got Loki up off of the floor and leaned against the counter. He handed the taller man the matching shirt and waited until it was on and buttoned. "Ready to go back to bed?"

"I'd rather sit in the chair for a while if it's all the same to you."

"No problem." They made it to the chair without incident. Steve sat down on the bed. "You've got Dr. G pretty upset. I'm not too happy about that." He waited but Loki ignored him. "Let me tell you a story."

"Must you?"

"It's a good one." He waited until Loki shrugged before continuing. "Once upon a time," he grinned as the other man glared at him. "Seriously. About fifteen years ago a girl discovered under tragic circumstances that she had a powerful and dangerous ability. Even though what she had done was deemed self-defense and the charges against her were dismissed, her parents were frightened and handed her over to a research center for containment. The girl, just thirteen years old, was experimented on for several years before she was rescued and taken in by a foster family. That family knew everything about her, knew she was dangerous, but they were willing to risk everything so that she could have a chance at a decent life. They didn't have much money, but they helped her get into community college and when she qualified for scholarships to cover more advanced schooling, they cosigned loans to cover the difference so that she could continue her studies." He paused.

"I assume you're speaking of Dr. Gunnarssen?" Loki asked.

"Yeah, I am. The point is, they owed her nothing but gave her what they could and she's grateful for the chance they gave her. So your attitude about your adoption really hurts her. Her foster family couldn't adopt her, her birth family couldn't be located to sign the paperwork. After she turned twenty-one, she adopted their name with their blessing." Steve sighed. "You don't have to love the family that adopted you, but you should at least be grateful they saved your sorry behind and gave you the opportunity to live a privileged life. People make mistakes, and maybe they should have told you before you found out for yourself. But think about it…maybe they were afraid people would treat you badly because of your Jotun blood and were trying to protect you." There was still no response. He sighed again. "Fine, wallow. I'll go find out what you're allowed to eat."