N/A: I want to thank everyone who has followed this story and left a review! I never thought that I would get 26 emails from OVERNIGHT about this! I'd like to send out a special shoutout to two of my best buddies, Seaspray and SilverScreen, for continually supporting me throughout my writing. :) I'd also like to thank ACW (You know who you are) for being awesome XD
"What kind of problem?"
When Steve Rogers had woken up that morning and made the executive decision to go out on a walk, he had no idea that he would stumble upon the bloodied body of the god he had fought about four years previously. He had been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. in that time, with the occasional visit from one of the Avengers. Steve stared down at Loki, confusion guarding the concern that had hit him first. When he had called S.H.I.E.L.D., the god's eyes had snapped open, wide and fearful. He saw Steve and instantly started to try to get away, as if he would harm him.
All Steve realized was that this was not something that S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to get involved with.
"False alarm," he said into his phone, hanging up quickly. In the span of five minutes that Steve had said his first sentence to Maria Hill, to his hesitation to respond, then his abrupt ending of the call, Loki had only moved about two feet away. Steve approached him slowly. "Loki…"
Loki stared up at Steve, his own blood slightly blurring the image of the super soldier, but he knew who it was. He knew that he would take Loki back to Thor, and Thor would take him back to Asgard, and it would be back in the prison cell he went. He could not let that happen. He would not go back to Asgard and he would not let Thor touch him ever again. He continued trying to squirm away from Steve, with little success.
"Who did this to you?" Steve asked, trying to sound softer than he normally did. Loki merely shook his head vigorously, tears starting to fall from his eyes once more. This had to be a vision sent to by Thanos. Soon Steve too would morph into Thanos and Central Park would dissolve into nothingness. Just like Tony and Thor and Bruce had. But none of them had asked who had harmed him; what had caused the god so much obvious pain and suffering. All of them had acted too innocent, too… uncharacteristic. Loki's head was spinning from his loss of blood and thinking. Exhaustion still could not be shaken from him and the sprig of Insanity grew a little bit more. For some reason, this seemed to amuse the god. He started to laugh weakly.
"Is this a trap?"
Steve hadn't expected that his harsh words would have such a positive effect on Loki. Loki's eyes widened and tears filled them once more, but this time they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of joy. Pure and utter joy. His laughing increased slightly and he managed to get out one, barely audible sentence before he fell into unconsciousness;
"You're real."
Steve stared down at Loki for a second. "You're real," he repeated. What was that supposed to mean? Of course Steve was real; he had been real for ages now! Nonetheless, this was no time for him to be pondering over Loki's words. Loki wouldn't be able to survive losing all this blood unless he did something now. Steve slowly lifted Loki into his arms and started to walk back to his apartment, ignoring the stares he received from passing civilians. His apartment wasn't too far from Central Park, which was very lucky for Loki. He moved as fast as he could and, once there, set Loki down on the couch. He got the first aid kit and as he started to clean Loki's wounds with water, he called someone he knew to be a doctor.
"Steve, hi," came the soft voice of Bruce Banner.
"Bruce, could you come over to my apartment for a minute? I need your help. Only your help," he added, after he heard a possibly drunk Tony Stark in the background. There seemed to be a slight reluctance on Bruce's end of the line, possibly to yell at Tony or tell Pepper that it was nice of them to let him stay.
"I'll be right over."
"Make it quick," Steve muttered before hanging up. Steve Rogers was no doctor. He wasn't very good at anything medical. Until Bruce arrived, he did nothing but clean the wounds and apply pressure to the ones that bled that most. When there came the soft tap, tap, tap from the door, signifying that Bruce had arrived, Loki stirred slightly. It wasn't much, but it was enough to tell Steve that there was a chance they could save him. Steve bolted to the door and opened it. "Bruce, before you freak out, let me explain…"
But there seemed to be no explanation needed for what Bruce saw. He instantly rushed to Loki's side and started to treat the wounds. Steve let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't been sure if letting Bruce come had been a good idea, out of fear that he might 'Hulk out'. In Bruce's mind, an injured person was an injured person and it didn't matter whether they were good or bad.
A small groan escaped Loki's lips, but he did not move or open his eyes. Bruce didn't miss a beat, disregarding the small noise made by the god. He didn't need Loki to tell him that he was in a whole world of pain. After the groan, there seemed to be more interaction coming from Loki. He started muttering nonsense words under his breath, his head rocking back and forth.
Steve watched with wide eyes, unsure of what to make of this. What had happened to Loki? Who would do this? And why did he say "You're real"?
Though he had made slight movements the previous day, Loki had not fully entered the conscious mind. The minute he opened his eyes, panic seized him at the darkness that surrounded him. Tears flowed down his cheeks and he grabbed the thing nearest to him-a pillow-and held it tightly against his chest, not sure of what would happen next. An hour passed and still nothing had happened. Loki's grip slowly released on the pillow and he sat up, only to instantly fall back again, letting out a yelp of pain. The wounds around his stomach area were too deep for him to get up; it hurt too much.
Suddenly a blinding light engulfed him and he shielded his eyes with his hands. He lowered them slowly, looking around the apartment curiously.
It was small and, frankly, a bit plain. The walls were a bit of a darker tan and the couch he was laying on was a dark brown. The kitchen, dining room, and living room were all combined into one room. The table was in front of the couch and in front of the couch was a smaller table with a little television. There were three different doors, two of which were closed. Steve Rogers stood in the open doorway, finger on the light switch. Behind him, Loki could make out a bedroom, a little bit smaller than the room he was in.
"You're awake," Steve commented. Loki squeaked a little and grabbed the pillow once more, pushing his face into it. He instantly flung it away from him, though, the darkness if it unsettling. He cowered on the couch, staring at Steve with wide, fearful eyes. "Hey, it's okay…" Steve started to approach Loki, but that only made tears fall down his cheeks again. "Loki, I'm not going to hurt you."
Loki shook his head quickly and threw a pillow at him. "NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
Steve blinked and stopped moving, the pillow doing him no harm when it hit his abdomen. "Loki, I can't help you if you won't let me."
"You…. You are not r-real," Loki whispered. "L-Like all the r-rest…" He buried his face into his hands, sobs racking his body. Steve stood there, stunned, staring at Loki. "S-soon this wi-will a-all be g-g-gone… And you-you w-will be h-him." Loki became overcome with sobs and stopped talking, unable to speak.
"Loki…" Steve didn't know what to say or do. "I am real. I've been real for… over seventy years. This apartment is real. The pillow you threw at me is real. Why do you think it's not?"
He just shook his head. If it really was Thanos, all of this would be over soon. The Insanity flowing within Loki would corrupt his mind before he could even torture him. This was the worst vision Thanos had sent yet; the idea of peace, the idea that someone cared. Loki waited for the bits of light that managed to seep through his fingers to be shut out, for Thanos's cruel laughter to fill his ears.
But none of that came. Maybe, maybe there was a chance for Loki. Maybe this could all be real.