Author's Note: Last chapter! Thank you for sticking this long with me! You're all incredible!

Why'd you come you knew you should have stayed,

I tried to warn you just to stay away,

And now their outside ready to bust,

It looks like you might be one of us.

-Twenty One Pilots "Heathens"

Chapter Fifteen:

Thor has never had wax stuffed up his ears, but he imagines that this is what the world would sound like if he did. His consciousness refuses to stick and he can only pick out the briefest forms of conversation when it does. Something about medical trials, burning, nerve damage, bullet holes and a variety of other things that make no sense to him. It's a mess.

The voices are sometimes those he doesn't recognize, but mostly he hears the reassuring baritone of his younger sibling and those of the other Avengers save Bruce, along with Natasha's soft voice speaking to him.

Thor drifts.

Everything is hard to focus on and his senses are dulled, but strangely heightened.

When his consciousness finally settles, it's akin to landing face first against cement. His body aches and his fingers are stiff with pain. Everything smells strongly of rubbing alcohol and plastic. His mouth is dry and tastes like rotting leather and there's a dull lighting pressing into his eyes and a soft murmur of a headache pounding in the background. The most prominent thing, however is the voices.

They aren't loud; almost to the point of just fluttering, but it's enough to drag him from the black he's been entrapped in.

Thor forces himself to relax and keep the illusion of sleep as he attempts to further affirm his surroundings. There's three voices speaking, two of them are male and one is a female. All are familiar, but his brain is sluggish and he can't place from where.

His mind is attempting to once again slip into the comfort of the darkness, but he refuses to be dragged. He grounds himself firmly in the present and gradually becomes aware that something is holding his hand. His right hand in a gentle reassuring grip, but the sensation is so strange that he nearly jerks forward at it.

He forces himself to remain still.

Assess his surroundings.

There Loki, see, he is capable of thinking a—Loki. Norns, where is his brother? He can't remember anything past being dragged from the cell again and the sharp pain of a needle against his neck then the dark. Everything else has just been blurs and sensation of awkward sounds that haven't made much sense, but he's heard his siblings voice. And the other Avengers. His kith and his kin are with him, where ever "here" is.

"...said not to be using it with the infection finally draining out." A male voice says, irritated, but strangely fond as he speaks. Thor immediately places him. Steve. Steve is in the room with him and talking to someone else. Infection is related to injuries—who is injured?

"I know," Bruce, tired and sounds as though he's been drinking gravel for several days, states calmly and releases a quiet hiss through his teeth, "but doctors are the worst patients."

Judging from the silence, Steve is not amused with this.

Patients.

What happened!?

"I'm sorry I could not do more." Thor stills at the voice, attempting to keep the shock from running course through his body, but he fails. He hasn't heard her voice in months, but it doesn't stop him from placing it nonetheless. Mother. What is she doing here? How did she get here? How long as he been asleep?

"You did plenty." Bruce assures, "I just—ow, Steve! Don't poke that!"

"It's in a sling for a reason. You were shot, twice." Steve says firmly, as if this justifies the action that he undertook. It doesn't, not from Thor's understanding, but Midgardians are strange.

"My son," Frigga's voice is soft next to his ear, and a thumb strokes across his palm, "you may cease your facade, I am aware that you are awake."

Thor sluggishly blinks his eyes open and winces despite the dimmed light to meet his mother's pale blue eyes. Her face is etched with anxiety, but it smooths when his eyes flicker open. Her golden hair is pulled back into a loose braid and she's wearing a simple blue gown. She's not dressed in any of her queen propaganda assuring Thor quietly that she's not here on business.

She releases his hand and gently cups his cheek, "How are you feeling?"

Honestly? Terrible. There isn't a part of his body that doesn't ache and his headache is growing to painful proportions. Nonetheless, he offers a very small shrug. "Mmm. I've been better."

"Yes, you have." She agrees. There's something tight around the corners of her mouth as she says it. As quickly as it appeared, it vanishes and she smooths a stray piece of hair away from his face, gently moving to take his damaged fingers once more.

"You're up!" Steve comments, materializing in front of him. Thor represses the jump, but doesn't quite catch the startled sound that escapes his throat. Steve's eyes have slight shadows and he looks like he's been running for days straight. The relief in his gaze, however, is sincere. Steve runs a hand through his hair, "Sorry, it's been a long few days."

Days.

Days?

Thor gives a slight nod in response and turns his gaze to the rest of the room. It's white and there aren't any windows. There's multiple hospital beds on Thor's left, but there all unoccupied. Bruce is sitting up in the one on his right closest to the far wall and staring at him. The room has clearly been in use for at least a few days. There's boxes of food stuffed into the rubbish bins and chairs are spread across the room in bizarre manners. There isn't any artwork on the walls which makes it feel strangely empty. There's a bedside table on his right is a mess of objects and pieces of paper.

The thing that catches Thor's eye, however, is the sofa in front of him next to the door where Loki is sprawled out. A blanket was tossed onto him at some point, but it doesn't cover his bare feet or left arm very well. He's sleeping soundly, chest rising and falling steadily and doesn't look to be moving any time soon.

Frigga squeezes his hand suddenly, drawing him back to her face. Her gaze is also on the dark haired Asgardian and Thor can't quite place her expression.

"Shall I alert the others that Mr. Odinson has awakened?" Jarvis asks, causing Thor to jerk his head up towards the ceiling in surprise. Stark Tower. They're in Stark Tower, likely the medical wing if he's guessing correctly, but that means they're in New York.

"Yeah." Steve says and takes one of the three chairs spread between his and Bruce's bed.

Thor ignores it, turning to his mother a thought suddenly occurring to him. "Mother," his voice is strained, "I don't—" A cough escapes through his lips and Frigga moves to press a glass of water against his lips.

"I do not share your brother's skill in World-Walking from any point, but there are paths between the Realms that can be traced here. Your father and I decided it would be best before any of you managed to get yourself into worse trouble." Frigga answers before he can ask on what she's doing here. She flicks her gaze up, something that looks vaguely like pride in her eyes, "I arrived much later than I intended—getting lost in the paths is a problem—and when I managed to locate your Avengers, Loki had already dealt with the issue."

"With fire." Steve adds helpfully. Pauses, then adds: "And a great deal of taunting."

"There was also the thing where he stole that guy's gun." Bruce recalls, but his brow is furrowed as if he's trying to draw up details on the fight, but can't pick up many. Steve winces despite this and grimaces with sympathy.

"Yeah. That too."

Ah. Well. That's like him.

"How long have I been asleep?" Thor questions.

Frigga's lips thin tightly, "Fifteen days."

"Fifteen!?" Thor sputters loudly with surprise. Fifteen!? He would have believed three or four days with ease, but fifteen!?

"Most of it was purposeful." Bruce explains, "They found a...type of virus in your bloodstream and it wasn't safe to let you wake up without knowing what would happen. Bucky—" Bruce pauses seeing Thor's puzzled expression and quickly corrects himself: "—one of Steve's friends who used to work for Hydra—"

"He didn't work for them." Steve corrects.

Bruce groans quietly under his breath, "Don't start that again," he carps, "anyway, he helped us find the cure they were making, but it took us several days to find. So far they haven't found any negative effects in your bloodstream. Loki was injected with the same substance and cure and he's been fine as far as we can tell."

Thor flicks his gaze back towards his brother anxiously, attempting to find fault with his appearance. Loki doesn't look sick, but it wouldn't be the first time that he's managed to hide a disease from Thor before.

Thor opens his mouth to ask another question, but at that moment the door to the hospital room is thrown open and Natasha, Tony, Clint and another man come tumbling into the room looking ready for war, but not dressed the part.

Loki jumps at the sound and tugs the blanket over his face releasing a loud curse in Aardent.

Natasha and Clint look mildly startled at the noise, but Tony's gaze flicks to the Asgardian for a second looking decidedly amused before moving to poke at his shoulder. "Oblivious sleeping beauty, are we?" He questions teasingly.

"Shut it." Loki commands.

Tony continues to poke at his shoulder, but his touch is fleeting like he's afraid he'll be burned when his skin makes contact with Loki's shirt. "Get up, Reindeer Games. Are you aware that your brother finally woke up?"

This earns a reaction from Loki who sits up so quickly, Tony nearly gets his hand rammed into by Loki's forehead. His sibling gets to his feet and throws the blanket to the side quickly moving across the room and stops when Thor makes eye contact with him.

His hair is a mess and his clothing is some of the less fancier attire from Asgard. It looks strange with his bare feet, but Thor honestly isn't surprised. Given a choice, Loki would happily wear no socks or shoes for the rest of his days. Loki moves forward and presses a hand against his forehead. "Do you feel ill?" He questions.

"No." Thor assures.

"Dizzy?"

"No."

"Can you move your fingers?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a headache?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. Are you—?"

"Okay, be calm," Clint commands, grabbing at Loki's shoulder to tug him back slightly, "give him room to breathe."

Thor shoots the archer a grateful look. As much as he loves his sibling and how wonderful it is to be fussed over by him again—strange, too, very strange—Loki is a mother hen of death. Both of them received medical training, but Loki's is more advanced than his ever was because of his magic.

Loki gives Clint an unhappy look, but takes the seat closest to Thor's bed anyway, watching him. Thor flicks his gaze up to the rest of the Avengers and the man, (Steve's friend Bucky, perhaps?). Natasha is relaxed and her gaze more at ease than he can ever recall being in them before. Tony and Clint are watching him with concern, but not being obvious about it.

"Do you want anything?" Tony questions abruptly, "A milkshake? Sandwich? Poptart?"

"Hungry, are we?" Natasha inquiries dryly.

Tony lightly whacks her arm, "You know what, Nat; I've been in press conferences all day with Pepper listening to politicians complain about S.H.I.E.L.D. and we didn't have time to stop for dinner or lunch, so yeah, I'm hungry."

"Should I go get you a sandwich?" Bruce asks hopefully.

"Move from the bed again, Bruce, and I will personally see to it that there is no possible way for you to leave it." Loki assures with a bright smile in the doctor's direction. It doesn't take much to see the threat laced into the joyful expression.

Bruce makes a noise of protest.

Steve catches Thor's eye, "Honestly, though, is there anything that you need?"

"No." Thor assures. "I would just like to know full details on what happened and why we're back in Stark Tower."

The Avengers quiet sharing a look before Natasha rests a hand on the man-whose-possibly-Steve's-not-Hydra-companion, "Well then. The first thing you should know is that this is Bucky. He is the unwilling co-worker for Hydra."

"Unwilling how?" Thor asks.

"The simplest terms would be to label it as "mind washing"." Loki explains, "It was not so much mind control. When we fought in Stark Tower the day of the attack, I pulled his memories forward from where his subconscious had hidden them and we left the Tower to seek refuge elsewhere."

"Bucky started remembering who he was after that, though," Steve appends, "but by that point he was already being taken with you Tony and Bruce for guarding purposes. He decided to wait and see if he could assist somewhere, but it never really arose anywhere."

"During that fun process, I was forced into writing out plans for Hydra on a mass weapon of destruction after getting Bruce shot twice—"

"Not your fault."

"—and you were being test-tried for a drug they planned on using in Loki. It's something like a computer parasite. It's meant to infect the brain and instill the same type of programming that Bucky had, but it can't be activated without access to a computer."

Oh.

Wait.

Thor turns to Loki who meets his gaze steadily. "I am fine, Thor," he reassures.

But—

"When the rest of the Avengers attacked the building with Loki they were overpowered quickly and Bucky dragged Coldstone's sorry butt out into the wild again, but when he went back for the others he was caught. Yay Sergeant Barnes." Tony says the last part dryly, "We should give him a Nobel Peace Prize."

"A what?" Thor questions helplessly.

"Nothing important." Clint reassures, "Loki attacked during when we were being transferred to another base and took us all to where Pepper Tony's girlfriend was awaiting to leave back to New York for assistance."

"That's when Fury showed up." Steve explains, "He explained about his near assassination where he was rescued by a man named Sam Wilson and spent days looking for us before he caught word of Ms. Potts trip to Wyoming. He said that he'd given the reigns for what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D. to another and they were working to clean up the mess Hydra had managed to create with our government."

"I mean, admittedly it wasn't the worst idea ever," Tony says, his voice reluctant, "it's sort of like in Harry Potter when they were making the Muggles look for Sirius."

The reference makes no sense to him, nor his brother, mother, Bucky, or Steve, but everyone else perks up at it.

"Oh." Clint breathes, "Oh. Yeah, I can see that now."

"Still though." Tony insists, "Annoying."

"Yes." Natasha agrees.

"When they returned to the city of New York, I met them." Frigga says, "We have been here ever since, attempting to cure you and keep Dr. Banner from getting sicker. His wounds were infected and the beast that slumbers within him offered no aid."

Oh.

He flicks his gaze towards the doctor, where he gives a weak smile in response to Thor's inquiring gaze. Thor returns his gaze to Tony and bites at his tongue before admitting: "I would not mind if you were to procure a sandwich."

Tony laughs and pats his foot as he walks past towards the door, "Thenest a sandwich I whilst bring."

Loki's eyes flicker upwards with annoyance. "I swear," he mutters under his breath, "if he brings up Shakespeare one more time in such mockery I will wring his neck."

Thor laughs, but doesn't doubt him.

000o000

The following days do not pass rapidly, simply or anything associated with the word "easy". Bruce's infection spikes again before finally quelling to the dark hole it climbed out of. Thor barely makes it a few steps before he collapses from lack of nutrition and the rest of them are left scrambling to assist where they can and Loki has never felt more useless. He spends his nights volunteering for watch on the sofa present in the hospital room so he can keep an eye on his teammate and his sibling with ease. He doesn't really sleep, but when he does the Avengers go well out of there way to keep him sleeping.

When Thor and Bruce are finally released from the hospital six days later, both are more than grateful. Thor has more mobility than Bruce does with the doctor's still healing feet, but both are confined to the common room couch where the rest of them force them to stay.

Their mother remains in the Tower for a few more days, then leaves to assist Director Coulson with the mess that Hydra made of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Three days later, Loki finds himself being dragged into watching a movie with the rest of the Avengers. The picture itself isn't really interesting, something about a princess with long hair who sings a great deal, but about halfway through Natasha presses a brush into his hands and declares, "I've seen you do your mother's hair and Thor's, fix mine before I shave it" and Loki spends a great deal of time distracted by the braids he's weaving into her thick hair.

When the movie has finished, mostly everyone is asleep or well on there way there, but Loki hears footsteps behind him. He rises to his feet, taking care to removing himself without arousing Thor or Natasha and slips into the kitchen.

Frigga is gathering the last remains of her supplies from where it's been spread out across the table the last few days with no particular order. Her back is to him, but he knows that she has sensed him. She's leaving Midgard. Loki's stomach sinks at the realization, but he quietly berates himself. She has been here for weeks and she is queen. She has more duties to attend to than these. She has likely overspent her time anyway.

"Must you go?" Loki asks softly, handing Frigga the final bottle of cream on the table. His mother looks back at him, eyes soft and expression equally so.

"My son," she takes his shoulder, "it will not be the last time you see me."

"I know." Loki assures.

But, still.

"I have left a letter for Thor, I hope he understands the urgency. Your father has requested me back in Asgard."

Loki nods, but picks at his palm lightly. A anxious and nervous habit he obtained from her.

"I will still visit when I can." She reassures, giving a faint smile as she cups his cheek and to press a kiss against his temple. "It is good to see you happy once more, dearheart."

Loki wrings his hands anxiously, and isn't certain how to answer. So, instead, he loopholes: "It will be nice to be visited by kin, then." He says softly and she smiles gently and gives his shoulder a gentle push.

"You already have some here."

Loki turns, eyes open and the delicious clear sight shining through to see the shaded colors of the room and the gentle slope of the city light in the distance. The colors of various bits of hair from the Avengers as they sleep. Tony's arc reactor giving a soft hum of light to see by that is almost ignorable. Just sight. The Avengers are tumbled and leaning against one another in a way that can't be achieved unless there is trust. Kin. Loki had not considered the bizarre possibility, but it fits them.

And he's content with that.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! Your encouragement has meant so much to me-more than I can really say. You're all so amazing and I thank you for sharing a small moment of your time with me.

Merry Christmas, my stars!

-LodestarJumper