One kiss turned to two, and two to more, and Loki felt as if he were holding the center of existence right there in the palms of his hands. Everything he had ever wanted – everything he'd been so sure he would never be able to have. It'd been taken from him, and Loki had been empty, even without realizing why. But he had those pieces of himself back now. Back, and so much more. All the things that Loki had wanted and been so sure he would never have.

Mine, he said with every press of his lips. Yours, he breathed out. Giving and taking and finding the kind of completion that he had never dared dream of except in the darkness of his room, those few stolen moments in the middle of the night where fantasy briefly becomes reality. Where the things we want overshadow the things we have and dreams run free.

To have his brother brought back to him was more than Loki had known to want for. The Allfather's spell had ripped that away. But… to have this. To have Anto, alive underneath his hands, and so totally his, even as he was Anto's. It was everything.

They had only moments – minutes, hours, days, eternities – in which to cling to one another and relish the joy of this connection. This feeling of coming home.

Then, reality returned like a harsh slap.

Anto – Anto, Tony, Einn, all of them and none of them, his darling whirlwind of brilliance and madness – shuddered and shook for reasons more than joy. His seidr trembled, a weak light against Loki's own, and the hands on Loki shook with an exhaustion that wouldn't be denied.

Loki drew them back until only their foreheads were pressed together. Blinking open his eyes, he found gorgeous brown, deep as the soil and flecked with the silver of the stars, staring at him with warmth and worship, tinged ever so slightly at the edges with exhaustion.

"Anthony," Loki murmured, putting everything he couldn't say into that single word.

The way that those stars danced in Tony's eyes was glorious. "Norns, I really hope you don't end up being some insane dream, and I wake up to find out I'm still strapped on that bitch's shitty bondage bed."

The crude, blunt words broke the last of the spell surrounding them. However, they weren't enough to take away the joy that sang through Loki's seidr. He found himself grinning widely and unashamedly. "Oh, no. Not even your imagination is this good."

"Don't doubt me, gorgeous."

A low laugh slid from Loki. Then, just because he could, he stole another kiss. Against Tony's lips, he murmured: "Do not think we are done arguing. I am still quite furious with you."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Tony murmured back.

The tiredness Tony felt was clear, and it was growing stronger. He was slipping forward, more and more of his weight pressing into Loki. It wouldn't be long before he lost the strength to even sit upright.

"Come, our arguments may wait for you to be alert enough to appreciate my rage. I promised to get you to your rest." Loki's hands were gentle when he shifted them both and gathered Tony up against him. One arm under Tony's legs, another behind his back, and he easily lifted his brother into his arms, cradling him close against his chest.

The way that Tony didn't fight him made it clear just how tired he truly was. His body was almost lax in Loki's hold, and his head drifted easily to rest against Loki's shoulder. Tiny tremors shook through his limbs and were echoed in his seidr. Loki was reminded of just how much Tony had been through. How close they'd come to losing him. It made Loki's movements a bit quicker as he straightened himself back up. In the span of a thought, they stepped through the folds of space and down to the medical bay.

The whole of the team was waiting for them when they arrived. Thor was the first to notice them, his head snapping up the instant he felt their arrival, and the concern in his eyes was strong. It reminded Loki that he wasn't the only one who had lost and then recovered someone important this day.

"Draw back the blankets," Loki said, striding forward.

Neither one mentioned that Loki could've easily used his seidr to do it. Thor simply hurried to draw the blankets down and make room for Tony. He was there as Loki began to lower him, one large hand cupping the back of Tony's head to help make the transition smoother. Tony curled to the side and, eyes mostly closed, nuzzled in against Thor's hand. "S' warm."

"We shall get you warm soon enough," Loki promised him. He could see how quickly Tony was slipping now that he was lying down somewhere. Whatever strength he'd found to get him through his confession, it was quickly leaving him.

A little furrow appeared in Tony's brow. "Think I might throw up." He turned his face more against Thor's hand and grumbled "Hate throwing up. S' stupid. Makes m' throat hurt."

"Peace." Thor's voice was a low, easy murmur, one that dredged up some of these too-fresh memories and threw Loki back to a different time and place, of the way that voice had once soothed both him and the being lying here in bed. "Rest, brother. You will feel more yourself when you wake."

Tony's face softened a little more, and his voice devolved into soft little mumbles, only a few words of which were clear. Something about being cold, definitely. Loki reached out and gathered up the blankets, bringing them up over him.

"Is that… normal?" Steve asked from nearby, concern clear in every word.

It didn't take a genius to know what he was referring to. "It is normal," Loki reassured them. A fond smile curved his lips. "He has always babbled incessantly. More so while ill."

Thor nodded his agreement. "Aye. Tis when he's silent that you should worry."

A bit of seidr and Loki made sure that Tony should sleep dream free and peacefully. He also made it so that he would be alerted if Tony began to stir. Because – though Loki would like nothing more than to stay here at Tony's side – there were things that needed to be done. Conversations that must be had. Loki wanted them dealt with long before Tony woke. For centuries now, Tony had been living in fear. Terror. Thinking that his family hated him for who he was, and what he felt, and believing that they would do him harm on sight. If Loki could soothe down the source of those fears before Tony woke, he would do it.

Still, he didn't relish the idea. He had gained one brother back today. Loki knew that it might come at a high cost; that it might lose him the other.

As soon as Loki was sure that Tony would stay asleep, he straightened himself up and looked around the room at the rest of the Avengers. "I've made sure that he should have as peaceful sleep as possible. I've also laid down wards to ensure that I'll be alerted should he start to wake. Still, I would be grateful if you kept an eye on me for him, Dr. Banner."

"Where're you going?" Steve asked almost instantly.

There was no need for Loki to answer. Natasha reached out and drew him back, giving him a look of warning, and she met Loki's eyes before giving a nod. She was letting him know she'd handle the others. Loki nodded back at her and then turned to Fizik. All he said were two simple words: "Guard him."

Loki didn't bother to wait for Fizik's answer. He knew what it would be. With that last order, Loki reached out with his seidr, wrapped it around his eldest brother, and they vanished.

They didn't go far. Despite the fact that Loki knew Tony was safe and healthy, or as healthy as he could be right now, there was no way that Loki could bring himself to be too far away. Still, Loki had enough presence of mind to take them to his own floor, which he had protected with as many wards as he could. It meant that they'd be safe from any prying eyes – though Tony kept his tower protected from those, anyway.

As soon as they landed, Loki was bracing himself for trouble, drawing up every protective mask he had ever learned. This was going to be a far from easy talk.

Thor spun around the room once when he realized what had happened. When he brought his eyes back to Loki, they were storming. "Why have you taken us away?"

"We have much to speak of. I felt it better to do it here instead of over our brother's sickbed."

The calmness of Loki's words did little to soothe Thor. If anything, they only seemed to ignite the temper that was lurking inside. The storm clouds in Thor's eyes grew darker. "Take me back."

"No."

"Take me back."

The fraying edge of Thor's temper was showing through in the heavy set of his voice and in every line of his body. He was angled towards Loki, not away, making it clear that running or even heading for the elevators hadn't occurred to him. Loki took note of the way that Thor's hands had curled into fists, how his whole body was still tense. This wasn't going to end well for either of them. Yet Loki still tilted his chin up and calmly met Thor's stormy gaze. "No."

The first strike wasn't unexpected, and therefore easy to dodge. Loki managed to duck two more before Thor finally caught him with a strike to the face that sent Loki flying back to crash into a wall.

Pressing his shoulder against the wall to brace himself, Loki brought a hand up and touched his mouth, drawing his fingers away to show the blood that now wet them. He tossed his hair back from his face so he could look up at Thor. "Feel better?"

The sight of Loki's blood seemed to have calmed Thor somewhat. Or, at least, filled him with the beginnings of regret. "No. I'm sorry, brother."

"Oh, are you?" Loki ran his tongue over his teeth, making sure that they were all there, and then pushed himself up the rest of the way until he was standing straight again. A sneer curled his still bloody lips. "Are you truly?"

"Aye."

Loki cocked an eyebrow at him. "So, there's not a part of you that still wishes to trade a few more blows? Or perhaps you wish to do more damage? To throw me down and take out your rage until I'm nothing more than a bloody mess upon the floor."

Horror had Thor's eyes going wide. "No!"

"Are you quite sure?" Loki took a step forward, goading him, pushing him. "Isn't that how all Æsir react to the idea of one being argr? I remember many a time you defended my honor from such accusations. Tell me, brother – would it shame you to know how true those were?" Letting his smirk grow, Loki spread his hands to either side. "Or would it truly shame you to know how often I imagined those men were Anto in my bed?"

"Loki…" Thor drawled his name out in threat – in warning. It was a sound meant to tell Loki that he was pushing too far or too hard.

Naturally, Loki could only push more. They needed to get this out in the open. To have it dealt with, now, instead of having it come out on Anto later. He had been through enough.

"You never hid your own disgust at anything outside the norm for love or sex. What makes it so different now?" Loki asked him. "I've heard you revile those who love the same gender. I've witnessed your rage at even the suggestion that a brother of yours may be so inclined. Tell me – has Thor the Thunderer changed so much that he can accept the love of two men? Not just any two men, but his two brothers?" This time Loki's grin was sharp – as sharp as his blades. It was meant to cut and cut deep. "Because I assure you, brother, as long as there is breath left in my body, Anto is mine. The Norns themselves will not take him from me again."

Thor trembled ever so slightly, and a pained look crossed his face. Only, instead of yelling or starting another fight, he closed his eyes. "Must we do this now, Loki?"

"When better?" Loki shot back.

Only, instead of pushing Thor more, his words only made his eldest brother slump down where he stood. That pained look stayed, growing stronger. Thor let out a heavy sigh and opened up eyes that were as dark and sad as a winter rainstorm. "I have gained and lost much this day. We all have. My heart grieves for what Anto has been through – what our own father put him through." Thor huffed and brought a hand up to run over his face. "Time and time again, my brothers have needed me, needed my help, and I have not been there. I have failed so wholly as a brother that my siblings cannot even come to me in their time of need for fear of what I may say or do. Even now, you seek to protect him from me, as if that should be necessary. The fact that you feel it is so grieves me deeply."

This was not… it was nothing at all like what Loki had expected. There was real, true pain in Thor's voice, deeper than Loki had expected to hear, and so far off from what he'd planned.

"I am not angry with you, Loki," Thor said lowly, achingly. "I am angry with myself, with our Father, and with Asgard itself. I grieve for the family we have lost this day, and I grieve that the beauty of the home that I have known was only an illusion – one that neither of you shared in. I am angry at how our brother was stolen from us, and I grieve deeply at the pain he has suffered the last centuries, alone and afraid to even reach out to us." Letting out a shaky breath, Thor spread his hands out to either side, and his face was etched with age and sadness. "In the face of that, what matter is it who you love? You have both found precious little in your lives. I cannot begrudge you the need to grab it when it shows."

"This… is not quite the reaction I was expecting," Loki said slowly. Which was a vast understatement. He hadn't anticipated this at all.

Thor dropped his hands and gave Loki a half smile. "My time on Midgard has changed me. For the better, I'm hoping. As my Jane would say, things do not appear as 'black and white' as they once did."

For a long moment, Loki could only stare, trying to read anything possible in Thor's voice and his words, searching for any mistruth that might be lying hidden there. All he found was the same startling honesty that Thor had always been known for. Seeing that, and nothing more, Loki found his own tension fading away. "She has been good for you."

"She has," Thor agreed easily. A smile curved his lips, likely an unconscious one, which gave it all the more meaning.

Loki let go of the last of his anger, an anger that had been fueled by fear and protectiveness, yet he couldn't quite let go of everything. There was a part of him that he had found again with the return of his memories; a part of him that had been hidden and buried for so long. That part of him that had always wanted to be something in the eyes of his eldest brother. It was that part which came to the forefront now and had him quietly asking "It truly does not matter to you?"

There must've been something more in his voice that Thor heard because he was moving in an instant, his hand coming out to cup Loki's shoulder and then slide up to his neck and the side of his face. That hold brought Loki close in a pose the two had shared many a time. It was the same gesture Thor always used to offer strength and comfort. "I cannot say that I understand, but if it makes you happy, that is all I need to know, little brother. That is all that has ever mattered."

Later, Loki would blame his reaction on the emotional stresses of the day. Too many things had happened, too much had been thrust upon him, and his defenses were nowhere near their usual strength. That was the reason he allowed himself to lean in, just the slightest bit, knowing full well that Thor would follow it up instantly by dragging Loki in close and wrapping him in the kind of hug they hadn't shared since they were children.

Loki would deny it to his death – or Thor's, should he dare to tell anyone – but he melted into his brother and took the comfort that was being offered, leaning on a strength that he had been sure was lost to him ages upon ages ago.

There was no signs of their argument, or the following moments after, when the two returned to the medical room. Loki was, however, surprised to see that the various other beds were filled and that the Avengers all seemed to be… asleep?

Fizik met Loki's curious look with a smile. "They didn't wish to leave him."

Ah. Well, Loki supposed he couldn't blame them for that. Though his seidr told him that Tony was healing well, that his seidr was replenishing and his body healing, he wasn't fond of the idea of having been gone from him, either. Being back in here eased the knot of tension that had built under Loki's heart. It faded even more when Loki slipped down into the chair at Tony's bedside.

He saw as Thor took the seat across from him, not hesitating to reach out and lay his hand on Tony's arm. Much as Loki wanted to, he held back from taking Tony's hand in his. Right now Tony needed sleep more than he needed people pawing at him. Still, that didn't mean that Loki couldn't sit here and let his eyes drink their fill.

Memories of their earlier conversation tried to push their way to the front. All the things that Tony had spoken of, the things he'd admitted to, Loki knew those were only the tip of the iceberg. He'd known that Tony had been through something serious – he'd figured that out long before he'd realized that Tony was Anto. Getting even the hints of it today were heartbreaking. Add it on top of the other revelations, and Tony's capture and rescue, and it was all on the edge of too much.

But… they were here now. They were here, and though Tony was battered, he was not broken. He was alive and safe, and even better than that – he was Loki's. That knowledge burned through Loki's veins like fire. A fire he would happily be consumed by.

Having Tony at his side this way made the prospect of the future a bit less bleak. Oh, there was still plenty they had left to do, Loki knew. There was much left for them to handle.

Thanos was still coming, and the Avengers and Midgard needed to finish seeking their allies, preparing the whole of the Nine for war. On top of that, they now had Asgard to deal with, and a whole host of issues there. Odin's treachery could not be ignored. Thor would certainly never be able to look the Allfather in the face and not share his rage. Asgard had many things to answer for. Even Frigga – who had clearly known of Tony, judging by her note, and yet what did that mean? Did that mean she abandoned him to his fate? Had she been complacent in yet another lie perpetrated by the Allfather? Or had she been spelled as well? And if so – how had she gotten free?

They had gained much with Tony's return, and yet at the same time, they had gained many questions with it.

So much lay ahead of them. Loki could only hope that they would be enough to stand against it. Thanos and Asgard – a Mad Titan and a Mad King. It was going to be absolute chaos.

Staring at his beloved, a slow grin stretched its way over Loki's lips.

Where better for a god of madness and a god of mischief to be?

END (FOR NOW)