Whelp, sorry about this, guys. I had the entire thing written down, looked at it, declared it shit and was too gutless to post it so I'm redoing it completely!

Ugh, Hurt!Loki isn't easy to write. I don't want to break him completely but I can't just have him unfazed by everything, so I've decided to- Dun, dun, dun, DUH! Break him completely! This is why its T, folks!

Drip, drip, drip, what do I hear?

Ah, it's the Reaper knocking, nothing to fear.

He pounds in my heart, and taps on my head.

The drip, drip, drip, of something quite dead!

-Anonymous

Loki is practical.

When faced with choice of either joining the creatures that captured him and Gabriel, or face their 'persuasion', he would have. He guessed, grudgingly, that either way would end the same, with them getting what they want, and being forced to do it would be a strike to his pride when he couldn't refuse.

Of course, Loki was practical. Gabriel, however, was not.

The creatures, Chitauri, dragged them to their leader. The Other.

He stunk of pain, fire and blood. His blue skin shriveled like a blueberry left in the sun. His voice, when he spoke, grated and rasped, dragging ice-cold fingers down the two captives necks.

He offered them a choice, one that would be foolish and potentially dangerous to refuse.

" Take over Midgard." He growled, long blue cowl scraping along the dirty stone floor. "You will wield a power with no equal, lead an army, be king of an entire realm-"

" Yeah, been there, done that." Gabriel snorted, tugging at the chains. " Hey, mind dropping us off on the nearest realm? No offense, but this place is a mess, and you smell like fish. I don't like fish."

The Other's red lips parted in shock, the constant squeaks and chitters of the Chitauri suddenly falling quiet.

Gabriel could have stopped talking there, and maybe he would have simply been thrown off the ship, but he had to add one last thing.

" Hey, Blueberry, can you get these things off, Its kinda hard to eat candy with your hands chained together."

The Other had him whipped, the end of the weapon had a cold metal hook, ripping the flesh off Gabriel's back with ease.

Not a whimper of pain or harsh pant escaped Gabriel's lips the entire time, the only noise he did make was a single, crazy bark of laughter as they dragged him to his cell.

Unfortunately, Loki's pride kept him from rolling over to the Chitauri before Gabriel did.

Of course, it was only his pride.

Wasn't it?

The day Loki escaped he decided the impossible was really just the improbable messing with people. Gabriel and Loki's cells where right next to each-other, a mistake Loki himself was certain he would never make if he found himself in charge of a prison.

The two tricksters passed secrets through code, telling each-other stories to hide them. The first letter of each sentence was a letter in the code, and when they broke off to cough, it signaled the end of the message. Who started the code in the first place was debatable, but mattered little.

One day, the only word sent through code to Loki was; escape.

" Loki, earth is important." Gabriel muttered, his usually bright and happy voice unnaturally weighted. " You know that, right? It can't be destroyed, like the Chitauri want."

Loki remained silent, wondering why Gabriel wasn't speaking in code. He could feel the faint stirring of something big in his companion's cell, but the man was alone in their.

" It has to be protected. Against everything. There's a lot of things targeting Midgard," Gabriel paused, leaving Loki time to think on why he used 'Midgard' instead of 'earth'. " Be careful of wolves in sheep's clothing, right Kiddo?"

Gabriel pushed himself unsteadily to his feet, cradling one bent arm to his chest. Loki watched him limp slowly to the metal bars separating their cells. When he reached the bars, he shoved his unbroken arm through the bar, his hand offered like he wanted to shake hands.

Wordlessly, Loki shook his hand. He could feel bright golden energy swirling around in his companion's cell, boiling under his skin and pulsing through his veins.

" And your going to protect it, aren't you?" Gabriel pressed, his hand tightening around Loki's until the bones grated together painfully. Loki nodded, lips pressed together.

" Gabriel." He whispered, voice harsh from disuse. " What are you-"

" Buh-bye, Kiddo! Say 'hi' to, well, everyone for me!" Gabriel's bright happy tone swung back in full, his lips drawn back into a goofy smile. The faint golden light grew thick like fog, covering the walls completely. No, not the walls, Loki, the golden fog encased him in a shining cloud. He could feel the powerful magic of Gabriel, but his presence was fading, the stone floor under his feet fell away and the painful hold on his hand vanished.

Loki was falling through a golden haze, tumbling head over heel with no idea which direction was up.

Loki landed with a jolt on his back, feeling like every bone in his body was broken. Maybe they where.

Staring straight up, he could see a bright blue strip between the black shadows of tall stone buildings. People chatted and yelled not too far away, but Loki couldn't work up enough energy to stand. The ground around him smelled like garbage and little stones dug into his back.

" Hello, sir, are you okay?" A gentle voice asked, a broad-shouldered shadow blotting out the sky. Loki flinched, teeth bared as he tried to shift away without jostling his aching bones. " What- what happened to you? Come on, I'll help you to the hospital." The gentle voice gasped as he firmly tried to pick Loki up.

With a snarl, Loki's fist connected with the man's chest, sending hims stumbling back. Even injured and unable to get up, it isn't wise to mess with a god.

Pain rushed up his arm, drowning his vision in black. Unconsciousness dragged him down, and Loki went limp.

Steve Rogers glanced down at the skinny black haired man crumpled at his feet. Blood was pooling from reopened wounds that looked like, oh god, whip lashes. The red swelling from broken bones where nearly hidden under bruises and dirt.

" Its okay." Steve murmured reassuringly, carefully picking up the unconscious man. " You're going to be fine."

Yup, still sucks. Sorry for it's shortness, but I'm tired! I might trash this anyway. I like the thought, but I obviously can't keep it up.

Ugh.