EDIT: This is my very first fanfiction. Looking back at the story, I quite like the plot and the ending, but I am aware that the writing could do with a lot of improvement. I would love to get back to it to edit it properly, but I don't know when I get the time to do it. So just bear that in mind ;)

Loki and Thor felt the familiar sensation and soon they found themselves standing in front of Heimdall. Despite having their paths diverged a long time ago, the brothers both wore grim expressions. Thor roughly grabbed his brother's arm again and started walking towards the rainbow bridge. He refused to spare any glance to his little brother who stiffed at his touch but was forced to follow anyway. Being chained and muzzled, Loki really didn't have much of a choice.

Usually, it would be Loki putting on an impregnable mask through which nobody was able to see. He was the God of Mischief in the end; lies and manipulation were in his nature. Now, however, it was Thor who decided that no one should be allowed to see how conflicted he actually felt. He couldn't believe it, not so long ago he had thought his brother to be dead. It pained him to think back to that time for he remembered the infinite hole that had been in his chest. Since Loki let go, he felt like a ghost. He would go around the palace and do his duties as was expected of him but his heart was never in any of them. He couldn't live without his little brother. Not fully.

When he discovered that his brother was alive it felt as if he was hit by a warm tidal wave. He went to Midgard, took Loki out of that plane and tried talking to him. He had to get the Tesseract back from him and so he decided not to show much sentiment. He knew that Loki wouldn't have appreciated it anyway. Loki's reaction shocked him though. Loki's eyes, which were once full of sparkle and mischief, now felt oddly distant and resigned.

Thor couldn't get through to him; it felt as if he was talking to a stranger, a mad stranger, not his brother. The only moment when Thor felt that he was talking to a person with actual emotions was when Loki told him that he doesn't have a home anymore. It made Thor angry for he couldn't comprehend how Loki could say such a thing. Now coming to think of it, it brought lump to Thor's throat. What if Loki actually believed in it? What if it wasn't just another lie or an attempt to provoke Thor? What if Loki truly felt that he didn't belong in Asgard anymore?

Thor couldn't stop having these thoughts running through his mind as they were walking on the rainbow bridge towards the palace. He felt Loki slightly shaking under his touch; he decided to pretend to ignore it but inside he was worried. Was his brother shaking because of the injuries which he must have suffered by the hand of Hulk? He didn't have any time to talk to his brother since his capture.

When he and the rest of the Avengers came to Tony's flat, they found Loki trying to put himself together after having been smashed across the room. They all pointed their weapons at Loki who tried to keep his face straight while having no other option than to surrender. He remembered Fury coming in shortly after them with a bunch of SHIELD agents who quickly placed chains on Loki's wrist. Loki didn't fight back; he seemed too shocked and in too much pain to resist anyone. When the chains were safely placed on Loki's wrists, Fury nodded to the agents who roughly shoved Loki to his feet. He visibly trembled but managed to stay up. Thor, however, noticed that he bit his lips to prevent a moan leaving his mouth. His brother was a proud man in the end. Fury turned around, signalling the agents to follow him when Thor found himself speaking.

"No."

Fury turned around. "What do you mean by this?"

Thor shifted on his feet. "You cannot be sure he won't try to escape. He knows a lot of magic as you may have noticed."

Fury looked annoyed. "Are you trying to suggest that I take all of you Avengers with me so he won't try to escape?"

"I am not going anywhere. My living room needs a bit of fix, it would seem." Tony tried to sound ironic but Thor could sense the tiredness in Iron Man's voice.

"That or," Thor found that it was really quite difficult for him to utter the words, "or you can muzzle him. He needs his voice to voice the spells. Without it, he will be left unable to cause any further damage."

Thor felt a gaze on him and he looked at Loki. There was a quick flash of betrayal which was quickly replaced by a mask. Even the mask was unable to hide the fear that crept into Loki's eyes by Thor's suggestion though. Thor knew that leaving his brother in his weakened physical state, chained and without any means to help himself with magic, meant to leave him truly powerless. Which was, in the end, the point.

Fury looked pensive for a second and then nodded to one of the agents who quickly said something into the radio transmitter. Within five minutes, another agent emerged through the door with a metal object in his hand. He handed it to Fury and left without any words. Fury looked at Thor who understood what was asked of him. He went to Fury, took the metal muzzle from Fury's hands and started walking towards Loki. Loki didn't move at all until Thor stood right in front of him. When Thor looked into his face and lifted his hands in an attempt to place the muzzle on his brother, Loki involuntarily tried to take a step back. He was quickly stopped by the agents who secured their tight grips on his arms.

Loki started to panic. He couldn't have Thor placing that muzzle on him. Not only wouldn't he be able to use his magic, but Loki was also sure he would be unable to breathe. At that moment Loki stopped caring about trying to keep his face in front of all those stupid superheroes and decided to fight back. He tried to shake the two agents' arms off him and walk back. He found the attempts to be futile though as his wrists were already bound together preventing him from blowing any punches.

Instead, he decided to shove his elbow into one of the agent's face. He did precisely that and with a loud crack of the agent's nose breaking, he felt the grip on one of his arms to loosen. He tried to take advantage of the situation and to slip away from the other agent as well. But he forgot about all the other agents standing behind him. Suddenly, he felt a strong pain in his stomach as one of the agents quickly took place of the injured one and hit his abdominal. He lost control of his body and landed on his knees. He felt the pain radiating through him as his body was sensitive due to his many injuries. He dizzily felt heavy arms on his shoulders holding him in place. He looked up and saw Thor staring at him with an odd expression. Was it pity? Loki didn't know and he wanted to shout at Thor but he felt so weak.

Thor witnessed all the scene in front of him with a heavy heart. He didn't enjoy seeing his brother to be further humiliated and hurt and hated the part he played in it. However, he understood that Loki couldn't be trusted and so he knew this to be necessary. He looked at Loki who lifted his eyes to meet Thor's.

"Brother, please." Loki said quietly with panic clearly hearable in his voice. But Thor had already heard these two words once. He was fooled then. He wouldn't be fooled now.

He took the metal gag and started securing it behind Loki's neck. He felt Loki tremble when the cold uninviting thing made contact with his skin. It didn't make him stop and he started to bring the object around Loki's cheeks.

"Thor don't do this. I can't…" Loki wasn't allowed to finish the words as Thor secured the muzzle tightly over his mouth. He saw pain in his brother eyes as the muzzle prevented his tongue from moving at all. Unable to look at his brother any further, Thor turned back and went to stand amongst the other Avengers, allowing Fury to take Loki away.