"Ain't that the truth," Tony Stark's voice drifted throughout the large room as he poured himself a drink from the bar. The laughs of his companion's joined his own as they engaged in their usual banter. He leaned heavily against the glass of the bar, the few drinks he had already downed affecting his sense of balance.

But he wasn't drunk...He really wasn't.

He watched Natasha enter the room quietly from the side, her slender form slinking behind the counter of the bar, grabbing herself a drink as well. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye as she situated herself beside him. "Maybe you've had a few too many there, boss." Her smooth voice filtered through his ears. He laughed heartily, turning his gaze toward her, pushing himself up from his leaning position.

"Probably. But then again where is the fun in the party without it?" He paused for a moment to down the rest of his glass, setting it just a little too hard upon the counter, "I mean it's not a real party till' someone gets drunk and does something stupid." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, and watched as Natasha rolled her eyes at him. She sipped her drink as she replied, "I think I'll just have Steve come and get you."

"Oh no! Please, don't tell daddy!"

Natasha shot him an nasty look as she walked back toward the party, leaving a smirking Tony behind her. The rest of the Avengers sat scattered about the room, filling the entire living space. Thor occupied a large part of the couch, as the rest took spaces like ottomans, recliners, and even the floor. Thor raised his fifth glass in the air for a toast, much to everyone's dismay, "Here's to Midgard, safe once again!"

Thor downed his glass, fully expecting his friends to cheer along with him, but he was puzzled when all he received for moans and groans. "What is wrong, my friends? Are we not to be celebrating the defeat of Ultron?"

Giggles spread through the room, along with a few more groans, before Banner spoke, speech rather slurred, "Yes, but, we've had like, four."

"Exactly!" Clint interrupted, patting Banner on the back in a rather rough manner. Thor laughed as he found the fragility of these mortals rather humorous. In Asgard they celebrated for hours on end, toasting, and feasting, and cheering. Here was much different from his home.

For a moment he felt almost homesick, but really, when he thought about it, there was nothing really left to call home. His mother had been slain by the evil dark elf Malekith, and along with her the elf had taken his precious younger brother Loki, as well. The pain was still fresh in Thor's heart, and he disliked thinking too far into it.

Seeing Loki's staff had been torture enough unto itself. Thor was pulled from his ruminations as Stark sauntered to the group once more, flopping down onto an empty seat beside Thor. "Ah, isn't this great guys?" Tony asked, patting Thor on the shoulder before reaching out and popping a few potato chips into his mouth from a bag on the coffee table. "No evil, crazy, gods, no malfunctioning robots, no...no nothing! Honestly," He motioned to the group as a whole, leaning backward into the couch, "I think I've done great!"

"You?" Natasha asked. "Sure Tony, you, conqueror of all evil! Oh what would we have done without you?"

"Avoided making an evil robot bent on destroying humanity." Banner commented.

"Very true," Tony pointed at Bruce, "He has an excellent point there." Thor laughed amused as he watched this, and turned his head just in time to see Steve enter the room, grabbing Tony gently by the arm, and hauling him to his feet.

He spoke sternly. "Alright guys, party's over. C'mon Tony, I think it's time for bed."

"Oooo, look at this guys, Steve wants to take me to bed!"

Steve just rolled his eyes and lugged a stumbling Tony toward the elevator. He turned back one last time to give everyone a look that said clear out, before taking a very drunk Tony upstairs to his room. The avengers sat in a stunned silence for a few moments, before laughter erupted once more throughout the room.

Their banter continued on for a little while longer, simmering down slowly, and by the time Thor stood from his seat, he and Clint were the only ones left. He bade Barton a farewell before heading upstairs to his own bedroom.

He could not understand why midgardians were so affected by such weak liquor. He always found it amusing to try and see a midgardian drink an asgardian under the table. It was something that their earth bound species was not talented at. Thor entered his dark room quietly, laying heavily on the bed before him. He wished to sleep before his thoughts began to wander to the worst places they could go on such a dark lonely night...The dark reminded him of his brother.

"Thor..."

"Thor!"

"Thor, awaken!"

Thor woke violently from his sleep, sitting up instantly, searching in a frantic way for the source of the voice he must have been hearing. When his searched yielded nothing, his panic lessened. He would recognized the dark silky voice anywhere. By the Norns he could pick it out from a crowd. He had known his brother well.

Thor summed up the strange occurrence as a dream. Although he wished that it had been real. He wished that he could close his eyes, open them, and there Loki and Mother would stand waiting to greet him home...but he knew that it was impossible. The reality that they were out of his grasp forever pounded a stake further into his heart than any blade could reach.

He wiped the sleep from his eyes groggily, squinting against the light that poured in through an open window. He vaguely remembered closing that very same window last night. He stared awkwardly at it for a moment, before pushing his tired limbs out of bed.

You should head downstairs to be with the others...

"I should head downstairs...everyone else is probably awake." He began dressing himself slowly, gazing around the room, trying to remember where it was he had left Mjolnir last night. He shrugged and assumed that she sat on the coffee table, in the same place as yesterday.

He left the room a little more quickly when he heard the voices drift upstairs toward him. He was the last one to enter the room,and his appearance caused a stretch of silence that was not unusual to him. He glanced over to Tony, who looked extremely serious, almost comedicly so, before bursting out in a hoot of laughter.

Thor watched as the giggles spread through the room. What was once curiosity was now a rising annoyance. He was about to speak when Stark raised his voice first. "Seriously, is anyone gonna say something? Because I will."

Steve rolled his eyes, walking briskly over to Thor, "Listen, buddy, don't take this the wrong way but, you have something...all over your face."

"What?" Thor was confused. How could he have gotten something on his face? "What is it?" Captain America shrugged, before sighing, "Something green. Listen if I were you, I'd go wash it off immediately. Trust me," He said, glancing over to Tony, who sat with an absurd smile on his face as he ate another large spoonful of eggs, "You will never hear the end of it."

Thor nodded appreciatively, glancing into the mirror. He was aghast! A sickly green tint covered half of his face, with a large 'L' in a darker green smack dab in the middle of his forehead. He touched it gently, and watched as some of it rubbed off onto his fingertip. Confusion quickly turned to agitation. One of them had to have done this!

"I wonder if he's okay in there?" Tony asked, giggling as he finished off the remainder of his plate.

"Probably. I'm just curious as to how all that got there..." Natasha commented, leaning back in her chair and glancing accusingly at the rest of the room. A long stretch of silence ensued, so she spoke again. "Okay, come on guys fess up. Who wrote LOSER on Thor's forehead?"

"Definatley not me!" Tony added with a wave of is hand as he exited the kitchen with his plate. The rest of the Avengers simply shook their heads or sounded out tired 'nos'. She raised an eyebrow, "Oh come on guys, it was kind of funny. Somebody take the credit."

Once again, nobody spoke. The silence became longer and more uncomfortable as Thor entered the room, face red and angry. His voice boomed louder than the rest, "Who dare defile the face of a Son of Odin?!"

Tony smacked him on the back as he walked past, laughing, "Not us buddy."

"If not anyone of you, then who else could it have possibly been?! There is no one else here you fool!"

As Tony opened his mouth too speak Jarvis visualized on a projection screen. "Someone has past security protocols."

Tony turned to look at Jarvis, a look of confusing spreading across his face. "Protocols? Someone broke in?"
"That is what it seems like, sir."

"Bring up the security footage from around the tower."

Momentarily various security footage went up to the screen playing through at a fast forward speed. As the camera that monitored the main entrance went through the screen, Thor raised a hand, "Stop! Go back to the previous footage. Slow it down."

Jarvis did as instructed, and Thor watched closely the footage, before pointing at the picture. "There! You see?"Tony raised an eyebrow at Thor, "You sure you're okay buddy? Because there is NOTHING there."

Thor pushed Tony out of the way roughly, taking his place in front of the screen. "Magnify this picture please."

Jarvis did as instructed, magnifying the picture to show nothing but the main entrance door. "Now slow it down a little bit more..." Again Jarvis did as told. And that's when they saw it. The space in front of the door shifted. It was as if the air moved on it's own for a moment, giving it an almost wavy, rainbow like appearance before whatever had caused it was gone. Banner marveled at the revelation, turning to Thor.

"How did you manage to catch such a change in the geological atmosphere?"

"Because my brother was a sorcerer," Thor explained, "It was one of the few ways I could possibly catch him playing tricks. When he would become invisible or something of the sort I noticed once or twice that the space he occupied while it such a state shimmered and moved. Just a little bit, but it was still there."

Banner marveled at this as Thor continued. "But honestly it is not that impressive. I don't usually manage to catch it. Usually I never even see it. Loki was very meticulous."

"So what you're saying is, that someone with magical sorcerer abilities just entered the tower?" Tony asked, voice laced heavily with sarcasm.

"Could it be Loki? We've dealt with him before." Clint offered, sipping from his coffee cup.

"No," Thor was quick to cut them off, an unrelenting anger threatening to consume him completely. The Avengers gazed at him confused, "Why not?" Natasha began, "It's possible, I mean-" Thor cut her off before she could finish her sentence, his voice loud and booming.. "Because my brother is dead!"

Shocked gasps spread throughout the room as he continued, "It occurred during the incident with Malekith and Jane. He died saving my life..."

Natasha was the first to reach out to him, hand brushing along his bicep comfortingly, "We're sorry Thor. That must be hard. You know you could have told us." Thor shrugged her off, opening his mouth in reply but was silenced by a musical tune echoing throughout the room. He gazed around for the source of the sound. "What in the Norns is that?" He questioned.

Tony walked past him with a stupid smile on his face, "Do you like it? It's the new doorbell. I thought it would," he drug out the word, motioning with his arms as he continued toward the elevator, "Add some color the place."

Banner stood shaking his head, as Tony reached out and pressed the button to open the elevator. "Hello and welcome to the Avengers Tower, how may we...assist you...today...?" Tony gawked as the elevator door opened. Loki stood in the middle of the elevator, a nervous smile crossing his face as he glanced around and nervously shifted from foot to foot. "Hello Tony," His smooth voice entered Tony's ear, "Nice to see you again."

"What are you doing here?" Tony hissed, squinting up his face in confusion, "Thor said you were dead!"

Loki's trademark smile sprung up onto his face, "Well he was obviously wrong." He motioned toward himself, "Here I stand." Tony gulped, unsure of what he should do. Obviously letting in the guy who tried to take over the earth a little while back was a bad idea...but Tony was also curious. What did he want? And how was he here? "Thor is not going to be happy when he finds out you...what did you do, pretend? To die."

Loki sighed loudly. "Ah, yes. I have for seen this. It will be dealt with as it comes. But as of now I have no other choice. Now stand aside I must enter."

Tony raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and stepped aside, eager to see what kind of carnage would ensue. The entire room silenced as Loki entered, And as Thor caught view of his long lost brother, his eyes widened to an impossible size, and for a moment, Loki thought that Thor might have fainted. Thor's mouth opened and closed several times before he managed to get out anything effectively. "Loki..."

His brother's name was a whisper in the air, and it hung in the room like a fog. Loki smiled once more, voice quiet as he addressed his older brother. "Thor..."

The silence stretched on for an awkward amount of time, and Bruce cleared his throat loudly to try and alleviate some of the discomfort, but it did nothing. After a few longer moments, Thor stepped forward slowly, reaching out. For a moment Loki's eyes widened and he thought for a moment Thor might strike him. But instead his brother grasped him in a hug, pulling his younger brother against him. "Loki, oh Loki, my precious little brother. I believed you dead."

Thor withdrew from the hug, and Loki let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Now brother, if you would be so kind as to allow me to explain, I-" His sentence was cut short as Thor's fist struck him in the jaw, sending Loki's large form across the room and over the bar.

"Oh my god!" Banner exclaimed, and gasps resounded throughout the room. Tony stood gazing over the bar at Loki, laughing loudly.

Loki righted himself, standing and brushing the glass from himself. He huffed, rolling his eyes and pushing the hair out of his eyes. He brushed the blood from his busted lip off his face, taking a deep breath and bringing back up a smile. "Now that that's out of the way..."

"You lying trickster!" Thor bellowed, "How could you do something like this Loki!? Do you know what you put Father and me through?"

"If you allow me to explain," Loki began, walking out from behind the bar, "I shall tell you everything." Thor went to speak again, but Natasha grabbed him by the arm, whispering to him, "Just hear him out."

"Fine," Thor's voice was rough and angry, "Speak trickster."

Loki shifted from foot to foot, eyes darting around the room at the rest of the Avengers, methodically planning an escape route if his brother should lose his cool once more. "I will not lie to thee, brother. Twas' a lie. I faked my death in an attempt to...gain Father's favor." Loki watched as his brother's face continued to contort in anger, his face reddening. "Afterward I was called back to Midgard by a man named Doctor Doom. I met there at his castle along with a few other Midgardian villains. They had wished me to participate in their evil...what would you call it? Scheme..."

"Loki! You honestly thought-"

Loki cut him off before he could finish. "I was not finished speaking, Brother." Loki spat the word like venom. "When I learned of what their true objective had been, I was instantly appalled. As much as I'd like to destroy you and your precious Midgard, I do not wish to see the entire nine realms destroyed." Loki gave Thor a few minutes to let the information sink in before he continued. "So I came to you. And I have even brought a peace offering." Loki reached into his robes, and Natasha put a hand on her tazer in caution. In his outstretched hand was a large manilla envelope, full of files and papers.

"What is this, Loki?" Thor asked, reaching out to take the file from his younger brother.

Tony grabbed the file from Loki's hands before Thor could take it. He shifted through it, scanning it's contents and laughing. "Holy shit. He brought us their whole damn to-do list."

"What?" Bruce stood, walking over to Tony and gazing at the file over his shoulder. His eyes widened as he looked. "You're right."

"What is it?" Thor asked, attempting to grab the file from Tony's hands, but Tony walked the other way, toward the door to his lab. "It's their entire plan, that's what. I'm gonna run some tests...I'll be right back." Stark disappeared into his lab, as Bruce trailed closely behind him. After this, the rest of the group slowly dissipated, leaving Thor and Loki standing in front of one another. They stood in silence for a long while, before Thor finally spoke.

"I've missed you Loki..."

"Aye." Loki almost blurted out that he had missed Thor also, but he caught himself before the words left his mouth. Thor continued talking anyway, "I don't know why you're really here Loki...I wish I could trust you brother..." Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder as he walked past him. "I am warning you brother. If you try anything..."

Loki nodded in understanding, watching as Thor disappeared from the room. He smirked. The truth is...he was planning something...