Steve awoke with tears on his cheeks. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, collecting himself from the nightmares. It is not too late, he told himself sternly. Loki still lives. At least for today. Resolutely, he got up and brushed his teeth.
Minutes later, he had successfully dragged Stark and Thor from their beds. Both were bleary-eyed, Stark because he never got up before noon if he could help it, Thor because he likely had not slept at all the entire night. "We need to talk to Loki again, and we need to talk to Odin," Steve said firmly. "There is a way to fix this, I'm sure of it. I don't know what it is, but we'll find it. Come on, Thor, time to wake your brother up again."
Author's Note: I had to put my cruel fake-outs somewhere. At least I was nice enough to release them all at once with this more reassuring installment rather than sucker-punch you all multiple times, right? There will be one more chapter, which should be the last unless it gets too big and I have to split it up. I kinda doubt it's going to be anything like you're expecting, but let me know in the reviews whenever I post it (might be awhile again, sorry-I'm busy).
