Loki groaned lightly as he shifted and felt a rush of soreness through his whole body. He slowly opened his eyes and bright light rushed in, making him blink a few times as he tried to get his bearings. As his surrounding began to clear, he noticed that he was in the healing room of the castle in one of the pods. It all rushed back to him…the failed meeting with the Jotuns and the attack he saved Thor from that he was certain would have killed him.

Well, obviously he was made of far stronger stuff than he realized, since here he was. Groaning one more time, he forced himself up to his elbows to prop himself up slightly, and he saw none other than Thor. His memory definitely wasn't faulty as the kiss they shared right before he lost consciousness came to his mind. His cheeks colored just lightly as Thor smiled brightly at him and said, "Welcome back, brother."

"How long was I out?" Loki asked, moving carefully to stretch himself, knowing that he had to have not moved for days with how sore he felt.

"One whole week. Our healers certainly put their best efforts into your treatment, and I am sure that had nothing to do with me continuously wanting to be by your side during your recovery." Thor spoke in humor, the slightest of grins still touching his lips.

Loki slowly sat himself up, taking a deep breath, just feeling so thankful to be alive, "And what of the Jotuns?"

Thor's expression got harder at the mention of them, and he said, "Sif, the Warriors Three, and I were able to work with father to defeat them, and father was able to detain the leader. He demanded the Jotun agree to the terms of truce to not be killed instantly. Naturally, he did agree, and you are to leave for Jotunheim as soon as you are well."

Loki felt himself wishing that he would be able to deal with that one personally when he took control of the situation, but he would think on that at a later time. He had much planning to do before leaving for Jotunheim, and he supposed it was fortunate that he had to rest, since it would give him time to think about everything.

It was an especially sensitive situation now thanks to him, and he was sure that there would be many Jotuns that would oppose his rule. He had to plan for all of this. It wasn't as though he was a stranger to making plots and plans, but for once, he was acting for the good of everyone instead of the good of just himself. It was a liberating feeling, in a way.

He turned his eyes back to Thor, and found him looking at him with a strangely sheepish look then. He figured then that his brother was thinking on that kiss the two of them shared, and he realized that it was something that could not be ignored. He loved Darcy, yes, but that kiss…it did feel amazing. He wondered if that was because he thought it would be the last thing he'd ever feel, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it had nothing to do with any of that.

Even if it was extremely significant to him, he resorted to teasing as was his default, "Is there something you wish to say, Thor?"

Thor appeared to choke slightly and he coughed in embarrassment and said, "Brother, I…before I took you to the healers…right before you passed out…"

Loki's eyebrow raised at him, milking this even if he knew exactly what Thor was having trouble over, "…Yes?"

Thor gulped and actually blushed, something Loki had never seen him do, and he stuttered slightly, "Loki…what happened between us…I-I..."

Loki had never seen Thor to be quite as much a loss for words as he was now, and something about this amused him as he spoke in a wry tone, "It certainly was an interesting way of saying goodbye."

His eyes betrayed his true feelings though, as they always did when he wasn't trying to hide them. He might be a trickster and one easy to make jest, but he never did so on matters so profound. This was definitely something he could not hide the truth about, though his words seemed contradictory. His eyes were warm and affectionate as he waited for what Thor was to say. He knew that his brother more than likely regretted the action now that they weren't in a life or death situation, since he knew Thor never had any interest in him in that manner.

Thor broke eye contact with him and cleared his throat one more time, "I care for you dearly, brother, I do…but…"

Loki let out a sigh, unable to stop himself from feeling slightly hurt as he tried to smooth things over, not wanting Thor to feel bad over something like this. Loki never had delusions of ever being with Thor, and now with the involvement of Darcy and Jane, the idea of a relationship of that kind was completely out of his mind.

"Do not even think on it. I understand it was an extraordinary situation."

Thor finally met his gaze again and he appeared to see the hurt look in his eyes as his look suddenly mirrored his own. Thor shook his head and then spoke fervently, reaching out to lightly touch one of Loki's hands, "No, Loki. It was not just a flight of fancy. I…feel…"

Thor was silent then for a long awkward moment, carefully removing his hand and then speaking again in great conflict, "But…Jane…"

"Thor, listen to me. I understand, really I do." Loki tried to speak in a calming tone, seeing that Thor was actually feeling more confusion over all of this than he anticipated, "I do not intend to pursue this, and I certainly do not expect you to, especially now that we have found those we wish to have by our sides."

Thor let out a sigh, not appearing to not want let it go so easily, now that it was all out in the open, "Loki…how long…?"

A slightly bitter smile twitched on his lips at that, and he said, "Perhaps it would not do either of us much good to discuss how long."

Thor nodded as he took in the information, staying silent again as he began to look more troubled, his voice softening as he spoke again, "I am sorry I never realized."

Loki felt his heart lighten just slightly to hear how Thor cared for him in his voice, so he just shook his head and said, "It is of the past. With no more secrets between us, I hope for a better future."

Thor gave him a small smile and nodded, "Aye, a much better future."

Loki let out another breath and felt the huge weight of everything lift off of him, and he finally could relax for the first time. He closed his eyes and lay backward again, saying, "I do believe I could use more rest right now."

He heard Thor get up from the chair he was sitting in next to him, and said, "Yes, please rest. I will be around if you need me. If I am not here, please send for me."

Loki's lips twitched lightly in amusement, "How you worry so now. A large improvement over the Thor that would have just left me to my misery as I got better in wake of more interesting pursuits."

His words were jesting, but there was just the slightest bit of truth in them. Thor never volunteered himself to his beck and call when he was sick or injured before, so it was an interesting change for certain. He opened his eyes to see Thor fixing him with a tender and slightly apologetic look as he replied, "I am not the same any more."

Loki's smile grew just slightly, "Perhaps not."

Thor reached forward to pat him lightly on the shoulder and say, "Sleep well, brother."

Loki nodded and shut his eyes once more, hearing Thor's heavy steps leaving the room. Yes, perhaps he would sleep more ease than he ever had before.

It was true that Loki finally felt as though he could start anew with everything cleared up with Thor, but they were not easy days with his father and other advisors stopping in constantly to talk over plans for Jotunheim, and that was certainly exhausting. After several hours of debate on many occasions to give Loki the rest he needed to recover, they came to the decision that Loki should not be the one to leave after all. He was still weak, and it would take him time to get over his injuries fully, and it would not do for the other Jotuns to see Loki as weak at all.

A strong face was most necessary at this time, and with disorder in the society being the way it was, a leader had to be put in place right away. Loki was also certain his father wanted to keep him as far from Jotunheim as possible, and at this moment, Loki couldn't help but agree. His idea to help put them back together after what he had done was a good one, but he needed time to come to terms with the responsibilities of the task. He wasn't ready for it, especially with the other business he had waiting for him on Earth.

Darcy was waiting for him, and he would not leave her. He knew much Earth time had already passed, and he just hoped that she still had faith in his return. The leader that was chosen to go in his place was Algrim, a Dark Elf that was one of Odin's most trusted advisors. He believed Algrim to be wise and level headed, so this was not a decision he disagreed with. When the advisors left Loki this day, with him giving his final okay for this decision, he was paid another rather unexpected visit.

It was none other than Sif. He wondered what she might have to say to him, especially with how they last left things.

"Lady Sif." Loki said in greeting, bracing himself for what was to come, every talk with Sif leaving him on edge.

"Loki." she replied stiffly, appearing to need a moment to gather her words, her discomfort clear on her face.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment, causing a tense silence to fall between them both. Loki was tempted to continue pushing her buttons, but he was curious as to why she would come visit him like this at all. It flashed through his mind that she might be here to finish the job, but he decided she would have acted already if that was the case. Sif was nothing if not direct.

Finally, she cleared her throat and said, "Do not take this to mean that I fully trust you, but…I wish to thank you for what you did for Thor in the battle. I saw the attack. You did not have to take the brunt of it as you did."

Loki's eyes showed his surprise at her thanking him, and he spoke truthfully to her for once, "It was nothing."

She then looked at him closely and critically as though she was attempting to figure him out. Perhaps she really was.

"I do not understand why you would do such a thing." she raised an eyebrow at him, appearing unable to come to any sort of satisfying conclusion about him.

Loki thought it was just as well. He did enjoy keeping people guessing about him.

"Thor is very important to me. It is not something that I would expect you to understand." he finally said, just a bit of impatience sneaking into his tone.

She narrowed her eyes at him slightly, weighing his words, and she finally said, "What I do not understand is how easily you may turn coat as soon as it is convenient to you. If Thor is so important to you, why betray him the way you have?"

Loki let out a small sigh, so tempted to sideline her question with a jab as he usually did, but he held his tongue. She deserved an answer as well as all the people close to he and Thor did, no matter how irritating and close minded she happened to be.

"I am not trying to justify my actions, but I acted to gain the people's respect. I have seen now that the only thing I have gained is distrust from everyone around me." Loki's guilt was in his tone even as he spoke to Sif, his shame about the situation being something he wasn't able to hide long from anyone.

Sif's voice got a little harder, "You almost killed all of us."

"Another regret on my list. My emotions got me carried away." Loki also admitted, deciding that if he was to tell her the truth, he would tell her all of it.

She was silent again for another moment when she spoke carefully, "I do not forgive you for your earlier actions, but…I do see merit in you putting yourself in harm's way just to save Thor."

Loki didn't say or do anything, not sure if he could say something to add to this. He supposed that Sif wasn't so bad a person, he always just had found her rubbing on him the wrong way, hence their mostly adversarial relationship if they bothered speaking to each other. Now this was different. It appeared she was willing to give him a small chance, and he would take that much, having enough conflict to deal with in his life as it was.

Finally when it seemed to Loki that Sif didn't have anything else to add, he just slowly nodded and said, "Thank you."

With grudging respect she nodded her head back and said, "I will leave you now."

On accepting her goodbye, she left the room and Loki was finally left alone to think. It was true that he was far from mending the relationships he had with the people he was relatively close with in Asgard, but he was happy to see that he had succeeded in improving her view of him to just above scum at the least. This was something, especially where Sif was concerned.

He then turned his mind away from them and back to Darcy, as his mind often would do when not thinking on something of political importance. Every passing day reminded him just how much he missed her, and his longing for her was growing to a level that he wouldn't be able to ignore for much longer. The moment he was well, he would return to her. There wasn't a single place in the universe that he wanted to be more than by her side.

She was his one reminder that yes, he had someone to live for and that he always had to strive to be a better person. He had to be worthy of her love in a way he never felt much worthy of anyone else's. He was fairly certain that he would never succeed at that, but he always had to keep trying.