Warnings this chapter: none

A/N: Meant to upload this yesterday but life got in the way *stupid life* ;D. I'm sure you guys are eager to read this chapter, so here ya gooo!

(P.S. thank you to all my reviewers and favers/followers, I don't always reply to reviews, or can't if you're a guest, so thanks!)

Hollow Skies - Chapter 7

The god of mischief couldn't comprehend what was going on around him. The two new mortals were shouting at Stark and Stark was shouting back. The second Loki saw Tony's gaze lock on him, the trickster scrambled as fast as he could across the floor toward him, his chain jingling as he moved.

The other two immediately stopped shouting.

Loki crawled on all fours, grasping at the floor beside Stark's legs in desperation as he hung his head between his arms, prostrated. "Please, please, please," Loki sobbed. "I didn't let them in, I didn't- I didn't- you fell asleep- you fell and I just- was hiding- they came in, I didn't let them in- please don't lock me in the room again-"

He felt a soft hand on his head, Loki couldn't bring himself to look up, he couldn't catch his breath, he thought he would pass out. He just watched the small tear-puddle that was forming on the floor.

"Stark, what. the. fuck!" shouted the archer.

The room erupted in screams again and Loki grasped tightly to the bottom of Stark's pant-leg with one hand as he remained prostrate, unable to move except to tremble uncontrollably. He knows I didn't do anything. I didn't let them in, I didn't. He'll forgive me, he's not angry not angry.

Out of the commotion Loki heard one sentence, although he wasn't certain who said it: "I'm gonna fucking tell Thor!"

The mischief god jumped back, away from Stark and from the other two. Not that name, no no no nononono. He doesn't exist, he's not here... Not in my mind anymore, there's no one there only Stark only Stark...

Silence.

Loki was sure the silence would devour him.

He felt the wall behind him, and what little air filled his lungs, but he did not see the other three in the room. He didn't see them start fighting. He didn't see the red-headed woman swiftly kick Stark until his back hit the wall. He didn't see the archer pull out an arrow and point it at the inventor. And he didn't see when everything calmed down and the woman approached him.

All he knew was that he needed to breathe, and that Stark wouldn't be angry at him because it's not my fault I didn't do anything. He knows it he knows it, not the room please not the room, no more darkness no more... please he knows I didn't let them in he knows.

He couldn't catch his breath, it had run away into the waiting dark.

Loki awoke in a brightly lit white room on something soft. Soft...soft... Loki liked the sensations, but it was wrong, so wrong. He blinked his eyes at the brightness and stared at the unfamiliar room. Where am I? Panic began rising. This isn't my cell. Tony doesn't like me sleeping anywhere but my cell. Although he rarely slept anyway, Loki had once fallen asleep on the floor of the dining room after he finished cleaning, curled up in a ball. He had been so tired, and in a lot of pain. He hadn't even remembered going to sleep. As punishment, Stark had broken all the fingers on his left hand and saved the right, because he needed his coffee in the morning. Where am I? I can't be sleeping here!

Loki quickly fell off the bed, then backed himself into the nearest corner.

He was wearing a strange white tunic, and loose white trousers underneath. Why am I wearing these? Did Stark give them to me? He peered around nervously, he still didn't recognize the room. It had white walls and no window. There was a glass sliding door on the other side of the bed and several rectangular bright lights embedded into the ceiling. There was also a small table next to the bed with nothing on it.

The trickster flinched when the opaque glass doors opposite the bed slid open. A blonde woman in a mint colored shirt walked in, then after seeing Loki in the corner, gasped and rushed out, the door sliding shut behind her. Loki hid in the corner, then decided the underside of the the bed might hide him better, so he crawled as quickly as he could under it, making sure the long chain of his leash didn't stick out. He laid on his side, balled up, feeling slightly better in the familiar position. Even the cold floor was familiar, if as uncomfortable as always.

Suddenly the door slid open again, as several feet filled his vision.

A young woman was yelling, "Sir! You cannot come in here! The director-"

Next, a familiar deep male voice spoke, "I have spoken with your director, lady of medicine, and his answers have been unsatisfactory. I will-" The two stopped near the foot of the bed. "Where is my brother?" There was a pause. "Is this a trick?"

"No, sir," came the woman's voice. "I don't understand, he was just here..."

"Where?"

The woman walked a few steps toward Loki's first corner, he quietly turned on his other side to follow their feet. "He was here, just...crouching down like he was...scared."

The man said nothing for a while, the echoes of his voice rattling around in Loki's head. What did he call me? Then suddenly there was a face peering at Loki. He jumped and backed away from the lady's face.

"Oh, he's down here..." she said.

Then suddenly the man's face was next to the woman- no no no...not possible, he's not real! This isn't real. Just a dream, just a dream.

"Loki!"

The trickster shut his eyes tight and scooted away as much as he could, just leave me alone, you're not real! Never real!

"Loki?"

Suddenly, two arms gripped Loki from behind, hauling him up off the floor. He screamed at the intrusive touch, "No! Let me go! Let me go!"

The man-who-wasn't-real stood up off the floor, then yelled at the man holding Loki, "Release him at once! You are hurting him!" The arm around the mischief god's waist let up immediately and Loki scrambled away from the three people, trying to find some place to hide. The door behind the grabbing-man was closed and there were too many people on the other side of the room. "Leave!" yelled the not-real-man to the grabbing-man.

Loki, surprised by the voice, whimpered and crawled quickly into the corner next to the entrance. He hid behind his arms and knees once again, wondering where Stark was. He needed Stark to tell him what to do. Who are all these people? The not-real-man surely would go away soon, he wasn't real, after all. He was just a fantasy lost in the writhing dark. No more real than freedom or happiness or hope. Loki would have laughed at him if he weren't so afraid. Look at you, walking about in front of me and ordering real people around! Ha! When did phantoms command flesh and blood? Has the world changed so much since last I saw it?

But now the fake-man was talking, "Loki," he said. How does he speak so softly, this shade of a man? "Please, Loki..." The voice was coming closer, so close now, so close.

"You're not real," Loki said through muffled sobs. When did I start crying?

"Loki?"

"Not real, you're not real..." I will not look up.

"Of course I am...how can you say such a thing?"

"Some things aren't real," the trickster said, face still buried. "Some things...like hope, and happiness, they're not real. Freedom, that's not real, either."

There was a long pause, Loki continued crying into his arms. Until, "And what is real, brother." The voice was so low, so delicate. It didn't sound right, Loki wasn't sure why.

Loki finally looked up, he couldn't help it, his voice shook, "Pain..." The blonde man's face contorted, trying to keep something away. "And...misery...and-and blood..." Loki watched the man's face, fascinated that someone who didn't exist could look so sad. "And also...the dark. Always the dark is real. Such an abyss." The trickster stared at the ground with wide unblinking eyes. He saw a wet drop fall somewhere near the other man's familiar boots, but he didn't know where it came from. Is it raining? Loki looked back up at the man slowly, "How can you not know only these things are real?"

The blonde crouched down and sat on the floor in front of the trickster. Loki didn't notice that there was now no one else in the room. Right now, there was only this phantom sitting before him, breathing with such a similar breath, such a familiar lightning-blue gaze.

"Where did you go, brother?" asked the fake-man, the question deeper than Loki could ever understand.

Loki tilted his head and looked at nothing, not hearing the question. "Do you hear thunder in the sky?" His gaze moved upward as he smiled with open mouth at the ceiling. "I like the rain... it reminds me of..." His smile faded, thoughts moving like raindrops across a window, and his eyes moved down, down, down. "Thor?" Loki furrowed his brow, wondering how he had wandered into a dream.

There were tears in the thunder god's eyes, his voice was thick, "Yes, brother, it is I."

"How have you wandered into my dream?" the trickster asked with another tilt of his head.

"This is not a dream..." Thor tried to reach out to touch Loki's face, but the smaller god leaned back from the hand.

"Don't be silly, of course it's dream. You can't really be here, you're never really here." Loki smiled and was confused by the distressed look on the other god's face. "Would you...like a hug?" he asked innocently. Surely the figment of my brother will feel better with a hug. I can't have such a pleasant dream turn sour because of an upset Thor. So Loki reached out and grasped his dream-brother around the chest. But the older god responded with quiet sobs. "Why are you crying, Thor? You're ruining such a nice dream with all this blubbering," he chided affectionately. Even as the crying softened, Loki felt the familiar strong arms wrap around him.

Loki sighed contentedly, closed his eyes, then inhaled his brother's scent - like cool air after a storm. How strange. Such a realistic dream. He even smells like Thor. The younger god held on tight, not wanting the dream to end, not wanting to wake up cold and hungry and in pain on the desolate grey floor.

"Loki," Thor finally spoke after a few moments, "what is this metal around your neck, and...this chain." He held up the end of the chain. Loki froze and jerked back against the wall, hitting his back. No, he scolded himself, he's not real, just a dream remember? And besides, what does it matter if Thor has the chain? He would never hurt you. Loki swallowed his fear then leaned forward again to hug Thor. He wanted this wonderful dream to last as long as possible, he didn't want to scare the dream-figments away.

"You don't need to hold the chain, brother, I'll do anything you say anyway," Loki chuckled into the metal chest.

"What?" whispered Thor. The chain clanged to the floor. Loki nuzzled his forehead into Thor's neck, trying to indicate that he wanted his big brother to hug him back once again. Thor obliged, but then lifted himself up and dragged Loki along. He didn't mind, he was just happy Thor - or as close as he could get to the real thing - was returning his affection.

Loki didn't heed Thor's confusion. "It's been so long since I've dreamed of you, brother. It used to be almost every night, but now..." Loki shook his head, "It doesn't matter, you're here now."

The door suddenly slid open as two figures walked in. Loki stared at them, they stared back. Don't be afraid, he told himself, they're not real, either.

"How did you two get into my dream?" Loki eyed them suspiciously and clung to Thor. "I don't like you here, go away!" With that, the trickster turned his head on the other side and held fast to his older brother.

"Uh, what?" said the archer.

Thor's voice rumbled through his chest, "It seems my brother believes he is dreaming. That none of us are real."

The woman's voice was next, "It's actually not that surprising if you think about it, given what he's been through." Loki wanted the two to go away. "He's probably had to rearrange his hold on reality to get through...everything..." Her voice trailed off.

Thor began walking slowly backward, bringing Loki with him. The smaller god wondered what he was doing, before he realized his big brother was trying to sit on the bed. Loki smiled a little and sat down next to him, then leaned his head on Thor's shoulder. An arm circled around the trickster and Loki leaned into him further. He wanted this dream to never end. No, never end.

"Loki," the red-head approached him, "do you know who I am?"

Loki stared at her, thinking. Then he shook his head. The truth was, Loki hadn't given it much thought. She and the archer were both very familiar, but his mind was too busy and filled with pain and darkness to bother with checking his memories.

"I'm Natasha Romanoff," she pointed behind her, "and that's Clint Barton. We're agents of SHIELD. We used to know each other..." she smiled a little. "Well, sort of."

Loki narrowed his eyes and stared at them, thinking. Romanoff... Barton? Suddenly, there was a blue cube of light somewhere in his memory...and blue eyes. So blue, unnaturally blue. And there were arrows flying by, and a glass cage, and a man with only one eye...no wait, two men with only one eye. A golden city above clouds...and a silver city of lights. There was a man who hid a monster, and a man with a kind face and a shield who wore colors that were precious to him. Then there was fire, and blood, and...screams... Loki clenched his eyes shut. There was a man in front of him, he held a large metal weapon in his hands and he wore a Midgardian suit, why wear clothing with blood on it? He said something to Loki that made the trickster angry and confused, but he didn't know why. Whatever the man said, Loki knew he was right.

Then there was only Stark... Only Stark... Only Stark.

"Do you remember us now, Loki?" the woman's gaze was unwavering, her stance steady.

Loki gripped Thor tighter as the flood of memories came crashing back. There were so many pieces missing, so many things Loki didn't understand. He hid his face in his brother's neck, then choked out, "Yes..."

A/N: Obviously this is where the 'comfort' portion of the story begins - but that doesn't mean it'll be easy! Poor Loki's got some serious issues, he basically fainted from agitation and stress. I hope Tony and Clint and Natasha's whole scene was okay - let's face it, Stark's no match for either of them without his suit. ;)

More with Loki and his big bro next chapter, at least it's not a cliffhanger this time.