Freesia made her way, after the team meeting, to Loki's room. Tony had been generous enough to provide him with a guest bedroom despite everything that had happened. The Trickster had been unconscious for two days now, healing from the injuries dealt by the Hulk.

The God of Lies lay dead to the world at large. Pale and gaunt, his bruises a stark contrast to his skin. Freesia had been doing her best to heal him, but he had been resisting her magic unconsciously. Which meant that he was having to heal the old-fashioned way, slowly, despite the godly healing factor.

Loki's mental healing, however, would take even longer than the physical wounds. There was so much trauma there, constant feeling of rejection, being treated differently because he preferred a different form of combat, not to mention the lies about his heritage. On top of that, the magic that had messed with his head had left an imprint. Yes, it would take a very long time for Loki to heal completely.

Freesia had arguably bigger things on her mind. It had been a long time since she had relied on anyone but herself. Once upon a time, her team had consisted of Ron and Hermione. But since then, Freesia had found little reason to trust someone with guarding her back. Being thrown head first into a world-saving battle had left her floundering; could she trust these people, at least on the field. She had taken up the responsibility on a whim but building trust between this mismatched team was not going to be an easy task. And would it even be possible for her to do this if she didn't trust them enough to tell them about her past?

Disclosing the secret of the wizarding community was easier, particularly because Tony was there with her. Telling these strangers about the sordid details of her life, however, no thank you. Not to mention the uproar that would occur upon the disclosure of her status as Master of Death.

Freesia was brought out of her thoughts by JARVIS alerting her to some change in Loki's status. She began to shoot off diagnostic spells before JARVIS asked if Thor should be informed.

"Of course. Yes. Inform him."
From what both Jarvis and Freesia were able to conclude, Loki could possibly wake up soon. This instance was just his body coming awake for an instant before his mind sent him back to sleep.

Thor barged into the room, not bothering to knock. Finding Freesia at his brother's bedside, he was immediately worried.

"Lady Potter, has something of grave consequence occurred for you to be here?"

Freesia gave the blond god a drawn smile. "Nothing big, he woke up for a moment and fell right back into unconsciousness. Come on, sit," she said, patting the space beside her.

The Thunder god sat on the opposite side of Loki, not sitting close to Freesia out of respect.

Freesia was hesitant to talk to Thor about Loki. What she had gathered from Loki's memories showed Thor as a hot-headed careless brute, but her own observations said otherwise. Either way, she really did not want to anger him with the subject she was about to raise.

"About Loki's Memories…" she began quietly.

Thor's attention was caught. Till now, Freesia had not truly addressed this particular situation fully. Maybe for the fear of revealing too much too soon, or for the sake of Loki's privacy.

"Yes, Lady Potter?" Thor asked cautiously, very much aware that she did not have to talk to him about this.

"After looking into Loki's memories, and once I realized that they had not been altered, merely influenced, I asked myself, why would a God be so easy to influence? The conclusion I came to was not…nice."

Thor was mildly confused as to what the Lady was trying to say, "What do you mean? Influenced how?"

"What I mean to say is that Loki could not have been influenced, certain emotions enhanced if he did not already feel those things to a certain degree."

"You mean to say that Loki wishes to Rule? To subjugate people to his will?"

Thor was beginning to shoot off little sparks of electricity.

"His desire to Rule was born out of envy and amplified by the mind control. His envy of you!"

Thor immediately flinched back.

"Loki has always felt, for lack of a better word, overshadowed by you. You, who was so well regarded as the Prince of a warrior culture like Asgard, while he was never fully accepted into the ranks due to his trickster nature and use of magic." Freesia took a deep breath, she knew well the feeling of not fitting in. "That was why he tried to pull you down from your pedestal, and he succeeded. But finding out that he was not your brother at all, but some trophy, it broke something. Loki is as much a victim as Barton or Selvig in this situation. And perhaps, you have not been as much of a brother as you think, Thor."

Thank you to everyone who helped me reach 100 reviews on this story. Here is the next chapter, early, in celebration.

-clicheluver

To the Guest who reviewed most recently, spilling all kinds of vitriol; please stop reading fanfiction since it clearly offends you personally.