He hadn't intended to sleep as well, but the next thing he knew was a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently, and his mother's voice: "Thor? Loki?" For one hazy, pleasant moment, Thor remembered nothing of what had happened. For one hazy, pleasant moment, this might have been the aftermath of any other quest.

Then he opened his eyes, looked and saw Loki sitting upright beside him, saw the bandages and wounds covering his own arms and chest, and remembered.

Loki, for his part, looked positively alarmed to be suddenly confronted by Odin and Frigga. He stared up at them for a moment, wide-eyed and speechless, and then hastily looked away. Thor could sympathize – Loki hadn't actually seen either of them since the trial and sentencing, two years past.

Frigga, however, was having none of that. There was blood on her dress and she seemed nearly as tired as her son, but all the same, she took Loki by the hand, pulled him up from the couch, and embraced him. Her youngest son made a soft, strangled sound of surprise…and then he hugged her back. "Mother," he whispered, shaken out of his pride just for the moment.

Thor smiled at the sight, before turning his attention to his father. As he did so, he saw that Odin had been regarding Loki as well, with soft hints of so many different emotions on his aged face. But then the king turned his remaining eye to his oldest son, and Thor wondered if he had really seen anything at all. "Allfather," Thor said politely. "Is there news?"

"None that you have not heard already," said Odin. "But I would speak with you both. Privately."

"I would offer the chance to save us all some time by talking in my cell," Loki said lightly, pulling away with some reluctance from Frigga and sitting down beside Thor again. "Isolated and private as it is. But I am afraid I've never had need of any chairs there, before today."

"That can wait," said Odin. "Because there is still the matter of your punishment for escape to be discussed."

Thor opened his mouth to protest, rising up from the couch…and was surprised to feel Loki's hand on his arm, pulling him back. "Thor," he said, warning in his tone, staring up at his older brother and shaking his head just a fraction of an inch. Thor stared back at him, aghast, stared at his father…and then he sighed, shoulders slumping. He did still rise, but only to follow his parents from the healing chambers, and he offered Loki a hand up from the couch as well. Loki took it, and then fell into step beside Thor, staring at the floor, that same worryingly thoughtful expression on his face as there had been at the edge of the roof.

"I am sorry, Loki," Thor finally said, keeping his voice as low as he could to keep the words between himself and the man beside him. Loki glanced up at him, surprised and curious…and, after a moment, the sorcerer smiled wryly.

"I'm sure you are," he said, just as softly. "For what?"

"For this. For all of this. For letting this happen, for causing it. If I had not brought you to Earth, they would not have found you. If I had not lost my temper with you, perhaps you would not have felt the need to escape."

"…I have too much practice at causing you to lose your temper for that to have gone any other way. And yes, they would have found me. It might have taken three hundred years. But they would always have found me." Loki shook his head. "I knew the price for escape. I knew I was only allowed one chance at mercy. I decided to pay it anyway."

Thor started to protest this decision, but quieted when Loki held up a hand. The younger man's jaw set, and he lifted his eyes to stare at Odin's back a few feet ahead. Thor saw a fire in those familiar green eyes. "You said you would not die for me. You will not sacrifice yourself for me, either. I have so little left that is mine. At least leave me my decisions. And if I am to have the chance to speak for myself, I will not go quietly. You know that. I think he might as well. I will not fight. But I will speak."

Thor didn't like it. He nodded anyway. After a pause, he reached out and rested a hand on Loki's shoulder, squeezing lightly in a silent gesture of support. Some of the whipcord tension left Loki in response, and after a moment he smiled once more. There was an unmistakable edge of nervousness to the expression, but he still seemed determined all the same.

"Cheer up," he said, casting Thor a sidelong glance. "He probably won't kill me."

It shouldn't have been funny, but it had been a long night for both of them. All the same, they both managed to regain a straight face by the time Odin opened the door to his chambers and they all entered.

The king sat in the chair by his desk, and his queen stood at his right hand. This left Thor and Loki standing before them both, and at a glance from Loki, Thor took a slight step back, offering the other man the field without withdrawing his support.

Odin and Loki locked gazes, and then father and adopted son started in on one another without any further hesitation.

"You were warned what would happen if you escaped."

"And I have not escaped."

"You made the attempt. And it is only because of Thor that it remained an attempt."

"Only because he tried to explain. Would you have had me sit and wait quietly to die, then?"

"You were in no danger. I meant to see to it."

"You had no idea what you were facing! They got into the castle, and that is so very little of his power!"

"Information you never volunteered."

"Information you never asked for! How was I to know that you would even hear me if I volunteered it?! I did not even know if I would be believed!"

"Belief is predicated on trust, Loki. And you have once again proven yourself unworthy of mine."

"Are two obedient years to be undone by a few hours of fear?"

"A moment's mistake can cause the fall of the greatest kingdom."

"And I am not the only one who has erred!"

Thor felt his heart leap into his throat. He stared at Loki in mingled terror and awe, but Loki didn't seem to see him. Right now, he and Odin were the only people in one another's worlds.

"How can I have violated trust you never gave?! You thought that I would go racing back to Thanos as soon as he was near!"

"No. I thought that you would flee. And you did. The purpose of your escape was never important. Only that you tried to run before your time was done. Why should I extend that same mercy again, Loki?"

Thor held his breath, scarcely daring to hope. But the fact that Odin was asking meant that there was hope. He just prayed that Loki would see it. It seemed like he had forgotten how to speak, in the face of the verbal war going on between the younger prince and his king.

Loki did not waver. "Because I came back. Because I listened to Thor, when he actually tried to give me answers. Because I fought beside them even though I am no more than a laborer now. Because if a moment's mistake is inexcusable even when I try and correct it, then why are you even bothering to teach me at all? Because this is my home, and I will not let them take it from me."

Silenced reigned, so thick and heavy that Thor felt his ears ring with the echoes of Loki's words. He stared at Odin, scarcely daring to breathe, and saw that Frigga was doing the same. Loki stayed where he was, breathing heavily as though he'd fought for hours on end all over again. And Odin was quiet, staring back at his adopted son.

And then, finally…he bowed his head, breaking their locked gazes. For a moment, just a moment, Thor thought he saw his father smile.

"Loki Odinson. For your efforts this night, I forgive you your breach of trust. I remove ten years from your sentence for crimes against Jotunheim and Midgard. You will resume the remainder of your punishment until such time as Asgard is in danger once more, at which time you will be permitted to take up arms in defense of yourself, and your home."

And just like that, the spell was broken. The duel was over. It took Thor a second to even believe what he had just heard…and then he did, and he felt a smile light up his face. Loki, judging by the look on his face, still couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Thor tried to drive home the point by pulling his brother to him in a hug once again, and he couldn't hold back the happy laughter bubbling up in his chest.

"Well done," he whispered to Loki. This, it seemed, was enough to shake Loki out of his shock. He returned the embrace, just for a moment, and even if he didn't laugh Thor was close enough to see him smile.

"We may soon have need of all the smiths at our disposal," Odin said, otherwise unperturbed by the affectionate display.

After a long, sunny, perfect moment, Thor released Loki, and almost laughed all over again as his younger brother began almost reflexively smoothing himself into back into place after the enthusiasm of Thor's affection. Thor made to turn and leave, happy beyond words at the successes of the past night and this morning, when Loki spoke once more, looking back at Odin and Frigga. This time, his voice was quiet.

"There is one other matter."

His back was to his parents, and so Thor allowed himself a wince. Loki might as well have just singlehandedly slain a dragon. Was he really not content with that?

"I will hear it," said Odin. Something in his father's voice told Thor that he knew what was coming, and something in Frigga's face told him the same. Thor didn't, even as he looked again between the three for any sign.

"I demanded answers of you, once," Loki said, his voice calm and steady, now. "Answers about…myself." Thor fancied for a moment that he felt the air grow just a little colder, but Loki did not change, and after a second the feeling passed. "And what brought me here, to Asgard, to this family. Circumstances…intervened. I would have those answers now, before circumstances intervene once more"

Odin hesitated. Frigga laid a steadying hand on her husband's shoulder. Odin looked up at his wife, and a lot seemed to pass between them, in that unspoken form of communication that came only with millennia.

"I told you the truth about why I took you from Jotunheim," said Odin, looking back at Loki.

"You told me a truth. But for the designs you once had for me, there must have been many more. I have many more questions yet. Will you answer them now?"

There was a long, long pause…and then Odin nodded. Frigga did as well, and she smiled at her son.

"Sit, Loki," he said. It was an offer, not an order, and yet Loki sat there on the floor. Odin looked to his older son. "Thor, leave us for now."

"No," said Loki, before Thor had even turned away. "Stay." That had been an order, and after a beat, Loki relented. "…if you wish to, brother."

If he hadn't wanted to before, that one word decided him. Thor sat beside Loki, and settled down to listen, and maybe learn. Loki relaxed, ever so slightly. And then he began to ask the questions that had weighed on his mind for years. Odin answered, calm and forthright, as did Frigga.

Tired, bandaged, and knowing that their troubles were far from over, Thor was nevertheless content. Whatever was to come in the future, he would face it, along with his people and his friends and his family. Loki was still healing, still learning, and not beyond hope or help. He was maybe even starting to believe that of himself.

Briefly overcome, having to express this happiness somehow but not wanting to interrupt, Thor just reached out and took Loki's hand for a moment as Odin was speaking. Loki started slightly in surprise…but then he curled his fingers around Thor's hand in a silent promise that he would stay. And they both smiled just a little, as the world came into focus around them.

Basically, I thought Odin and Loki were overdue a long, emotional, "I love you but you drive me nuts" argument. It was something that probably should have happened during "Thor", and Loki probably would have been better for it. But, circumstances intervened. Better late than never, though.

Anyway, this particular fic ends here! Thank you all for reading, and thank you for your wonderful comments and reviews! I hope you enjoyed reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I hope you will enjoy any future stories I manage to come out with, too.