"You don't remember what happened after the battle with Thanos?" Bruce asked sincerely and with worried confusion. "Nothing at all?"

"I remember..." Thor slowly rose to his feet, snow falling from his armor and billowing in the wind. "I remember... Fighting. Fighting against Thanos. With Loki at my side."

Tony crossed his arms due to the cold and his reluctance to fill in the gaps of Thor's memory. "What is the last thing you can remember about the battle?"

"I..." Thor's face was riddled with confusion. "I remember Loki using his magic to... trap Thanos. It was an energy field, was it not?"

"Right." Tony was dreading the impending revelation of Thor's death. "Thanos was trapped in an energy induced prison away from the Earth. Then what happened?"

"Pain." Thor closed his eyes and put his hand to his shoulder where Thanos' poison laced spear had stabbed him. "I was injured."

Tony didn't respond, neither did Bruce. They watched in silent pity as Thor began piecing together his lost memories of his final acts of life.

"Poisoned." Thor took his hand from his shoulder and looked at his palm as if he could still see the blood or poison that took his life. "I did not..."

"No." Bruce shook his head sadly. "But, you did have a chance to say goodbye."

"Loki." Thor closed his eyes as the memory of Loki's struggle to keep him alive came flooding back. "His magic sustained my life long enough to see Jane once more." He opened his eyes and a flash of his most recent battle against Loki stung his vision. The sight of him beating down his own Brother caused the revived God to feel nauseous. "I... I... attacked Loki. On this day."

Tony and Bruce looked at each other, neither of them sure of how to handle the situation or knowing what they could say to ease Thor's pain. Instead they chose to remain silent and stand their ground, they wouldn't leave Thor alone or exacerbate his guilt.

"Why? Why would I attack my own Brother? Why am I alive? Where is Loki? I require answers, please tell me!" In Thor's sense of desperation he reached out and grabbed Bruce by his shoulders.

"Easy!" Bruce put his hands over Thor's and pried the guilt riddled God's grip from his arms. "It's okay. Loki is safe."

"Where?" Thor was becoming more upset as his memories returned.

Tony butted in. "He's at the Tower and he's with Jane. He's fine. She's fine. Everyone is fine."

"Why did I attack Loki? I almost killed my own Brother, why?"

"You were berserk." Tony answered dryly, repeating the exact term that Loki used.

"Berserk?" Thor backed away from his allies. "I had been cursed? How?"

"That we don't know. Hell, we don't even know you're ALIVE. You'll have to ask Loki himself for the details."

"Then I must go to him. I must find my Brother and I must be with Jane. I have been gone for too long, my absence has caused great harm."

Tony elbowed Bruce in the ribs. "And you guys think that I have a God-complex."

"But he actually is a God, Tony. His complex is normal."

"Good point."

"Please, take me to Jane and Loki." Thor was trying to sound composed and in control, but knew that if he had truly been berserk that his allies would not allow him to be near innocent bystanders so soon.

"We will." Bruce promised. "But you need to take a few moments to calm down, okay?"

Thor nodded quickly and took in a deep breath. "What have I missed during my... 'sabbatical'?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Tony replied curtly. "Just be patient and keep your cool. Otherwise we can't take you back to the Tower."

Accepting Tony's proposition Thor calmed his mind and proceeded to wipe Loki's dried blood from his knuckles into the snow. "I will wait for as long as necessary."

Pepper decided to check in on Jane and Maria to see how events on their end were progressing. She walked to the doorway and knocked to be polite before walking into the room. "Hey. How're you feeling?"

"Like I'm going to explode!" Jane replied through her gritted teeth as yet another contraction faded. She released her vice like grip from Maria's hand and took a breath.

Maria shook her hand as soon as it was freed. Small indentations in her skin marked when Jane's fingernails had dug into her hand. "She's about two minutes apart. So..." Maria flexed her hand trying to get the pain to dull. "How's Loki?" It still seemed so odd for Maria to ask about Loki's well being.

"He's resting." Pepper said confidently. "He was in alot of pain but now he's asleep and bandaged up. He should be fine."

Jane was still curious about what happened to Loki. "Did he say anything? You know, about what he was doing and what happened?"

"No. He didn't say anything. Well, he did say something..." Pepper didn't want to bring up Thor during this sensitive time. "But it was probably a delusion from his pain."

"What? Tell us."

Pepper looked at Maria for some kind of assurance before she finally answered with a frown. "He said, 'Thor'."

Jane sighed. "Of course."

Maria looked away from both Jane and Pepper quickly, not wanting to tell either of them about Thor's miraculous return. Yet.

Tony glanced at the time on his phone and decided that since Thor had been sane without any relapses that it was safe to go back home. "J.A.R.V.I.S., give me an update. What's going on at the Tower."

'Miss Potts has managed to successfully provide basic medical aid to Master Odinson and Miss Foster has gone into labor.'

"What?!" Tony shouted at the A.I. voice that he alone could hear in his personal headset. "For how long?"

'Approximately nine hours ago, but has since been in the later stages of labor for thirty-two minutes, Sir.'

"Why didn't you tell me that first?! No, wait, why didn't you tell me that IMMEDIATELY?"

Bruce and Thor looked at Tony with confusion and building worry but didn't say anything.

'Your presence was required in the arctic, Sir. This information was secondary only to your mission.'

"Right, thanks J.A.R.V.I.S." Tony was annoyed with the lack of information. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Tony, what did J.A.R.V.I.S. tell you?" Bruce knew that something important had been happening.

"Uh... It's fine. Let's just go."

"Friend Stark, please. What has transpired?" Thor wanted to see Jane and Loki more than he could express, but he sensed that something was amiss.

"First off let me to tell you that Loki is okay. Pepper managed to take care of his injuries pretty well and he isn't danger."

"And second?" Bruce wasn't helping Tony with his delicate explanation.

"Jane is... in labor."

Thor straightened up at the announcement and smiled a little.

Bruce felt his stomach drop. "Damn it... I shouldn't have left her. She had been in pain all day and I didn't think she was-"

"Relax Bruce, Pepper and Maria are with her. She's fine, don't beat yourself up." He looked at Thor. "Ready to go?"

Looking down at his hands Thor clenched them into fists and looked to his hammer laying dormant in the snow. He lifted his hand and summoned Mjolnir to his grip in a single swift movement. "Let us return."

Returning to check on Loki for a moment, Pepper lifted the compress from Loki's damaged eye and was astonished to see that his eye had already begun to heal. The swelling was gone leaving behind only a painful yellow and purple bruise. Curiously she checked under the rest of his bandages and saw that he had healed to the point where stitched were no longer required. His breathing was also less labored and she contemplated removing the oxygen mask from his face.

Loki had been roused by Pepper's return and he slowly opened his eyes and looked at her with complete focus.

"Hey. How do you feel?"

"I am..." He tried to sit up and felt the burning pain in his chest return with a vengeance, his voice muffled by the plastic mask. "Alive." He let out a pained sigh as he laid back down.

Pepper put her hands on Loki's shoulder to keep him from trying to get up again. "Wait... I have to know, what happened."

Before Loki had a chance to answer they heard Maria's voice from the next room. "Okay, it's almost show time."

Loki watched as Pepper flashed an ecstatic and excited grin. It was then Loki understood what was happening. He forced himself to sit up, ignoring his incredible pain and clumsily tried to stand up, removing the oxygen mask from his face in the process.

"Whoa, Loki. She's going to be okay, rest!" She tried to coax Loki into laying down again but he wouldn't budge.

He put his hands on Pepper's arms and pushed her away from him as he slowly walked out of the room and toward Jane. "I heal quickly. I will rest after Jane has been tended to." He limped out of the medical bay into Jane's private room.

Maria had draped a blanket over Jane and was getting ready for the delivery when Loki walked into the room. He saw that Jane was in great pain and very scared. Placing his hand gently over Jane's sweating forehead he was able to use his magic to ease her pain and cool her heated body. Under his touch Jane slowly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that Loki was in the room and comforting Jane, Maria didn't say a word. Only grinned at the fallen God's gentle nature.

Jane looked up at Loki and looked him in his eyes, his blood-shot green eyes, and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Loki."

"My pleasure, Jane." His response was filled with genuine happiness. He no longer felt the lingering pain that wracked his body.

Stepping through the gateway from the arctic into the Tower, Tony gave J.A.R.V.I.S. a simple command as the trio left the workshop for the elevator. "J.A.R.V.I.S., initiate self-destruct on the arctic gateway."

'Yes, Sir.' After obeying Tony's command J.A.R.V.I.S. proceeded to update Pepper. 'Miss Potts, Master Stark has returned.' J.A.R.V.I.S. delivered the message just as Tony, Bruce and Thor exited the elevator into the medical bay.

Pepper saw Thor with them and her jaw hit the floor. "What in the HELL... Tony?!"

"Why are you mad?" Tony found Pepper's reaction to be hilariously priceless.

"I'm, I'm not MAD, it's just... Seriously, what the hell?"

"Long story."

Bruce interrupted the odd conversation. "Jane?"

"Oh! In her room, Maria is with her." Pepper pointed toward the room.

Bruce made a bee-line for Jane with Thor right at his heels.

Tony looked around the room for Loki and saw the empty bed, plastic wrappers from bandages and the oxygen mask out of place. "Where's the 'green-eyed monster'?"

"With Jane."

"Couldn't stop him from going to her, could ya'?"

Pepper just gave Tony an amused look. "He heals fast."

"Not that fast!"

"Faster than you." She teased.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Tony! Ew!"

Tony shrugged his shoulders playfully.

Bruce walked into the room and visually assessed the situation. "Maria? Is everything-"

"Everything is under control, Bruce." Maria smiled and motioned with her eyes for him to look at Jane. "Loki's been able to keep her comfortable."

The guilt that Bruce had been carrying lifted from his shoulders. He stood back and allowed Thor to enter the room past him. He walked into the room and stared at Jane with tears in his eyes and called her name. "Jane."

As soon as he spoke Jane immediately recognized Thor's voice. She stared at him with tears in her own eyes and with a trembling voice answered. "Thor?"

...to be continued...