I've seen The Avengers three times now, and it just keeps getting better. I love it. I LOVE IT. So I decided to try my hand at writing something for it. Let's see how it goes! By the way, besides reading plenty of mythology books that featured Thor and Loki as a kid, I've never read the comics. So if something's not right, please overlook it. This is just for fun :)

So I'm going with the idea that Loki's been banished to Earth as punishment, without his power, and he has to live with the Avengers, in Stark Tower. Thor's dividing his time between Earth and Asgard.

This is rated T for mild language, in case that's not your thing.

X

Loki's not sure he's ever felt a pain quite like this before. His skin is too tight, feels stretched thin over bones that suddenly feel much too large. There aren't any open wounds, but it feels like there should be – skin scraped off to expose raw, sensitive flesh underneath. But nothing. Just painful, painful skin across his shoulders, back, arms, and even chest.

He lays flat on his back in bed and takes deep, calming breaths. Even the cool, light touch of the sheets against his skin is like razor blades, so he lays there with nothing over him. Lucky it's a warm night. He shifts his left arm ever so slightly, and curses softly. Even the shirt he's wearing, a soft, thin material, feels like sandpaper against his shoulders. What. Is. Wrong with me? What fresh hell is this?

Go to sleep, Loki. Ignore it.

But he can't. He doesn't usually sleep on his back, he sleeps on his stomach, with his arms under his pillow. He can't lay like that now. Just lifting his arms up is like knives are cutting his shoulders right where they bend. So it's this. Laying on his back in this damn dark room in this damn Stark tower, hating everything.

How could a simple trip to the – what was it Stark had called it? Party Beach? – go so wrong? He's beginning to suspect that the "good time" he'd been promised had been a ploy for something much darker. Otherwise, these humans have a very strange concept of what is a 'good time'. Curse them all.

As if on cue, loud, raucous laughter echoes through the tower. Loki squeezes his eyes shut and glares at the back of his eyelids. How is one supposed to sleep in this racket?

To be fair, it is early. But when they got back, he'd felt so sick and hurt he'd just headed straight for his room. They could have a little respect. My door is closed.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Agent Barton's laugh makes him jump a mile. "I just whooped your ASS! Looooooooooooser." There's a quiet sort of rumble that sounds as though it might be Captain America's voice, then Clint's again. "Dude, I don't care if you've never played a single video game before. I still whooped your ass." Clint laughs again, and Loki opens his eyes and glares at the ceiling instead.

He's had enough. He gets up, wincing at the movement, and goes to the bathroom. How do you make the light appear again? "Damn these strange mechanisms," he whispers. Some sort of strange switch. He fumbles on the wall for it, and bright lights flick on overhead. He turns toward the mirror and – "What in the nine realms...!" He gapes at his reflection.

His skin, usually so perfectly ivory white, is bright, painful, angry red. He stares in horror. "Even my face." All of it. "What – what happened?" He's barely aware he's talking to himself. Gigantic blue eyes stare in frightened silence out at him. He lifts his shirt – same thing there. He gingerly touches the livid skin with his fingertips, it feels like an open wound. Breathe, Loki. He glares at his bedroom door viciously. They did this. They planned this, somehow. I know it. If Thor were here...

Loki has often thought Thor can read his mind, because he always seems to show up when Loki needs him most or, on the flip side, when he really doesn't want to see him, and this time is no different. A very familiar booming voice rings out two seconds later.

"Friends! Greetings! How goes it?"

Loki can just see his brother in his mind's eye – red cape flowing, blue eyes shining, ridiculous grin plastered on. He rolls his eyes, even though it's actually comforting to hear Thor's voice. And that thought surprises him, but suddenly he's very, very glad that Thor has finally shown up. Thor will know what to do, Thor will keep him safe. And he hates it, but it's true. He cocks his head and listens as his brother's friends all murmur greetings.

"I trust you have all had a pleasant day?"

"Yeah, we went to the beach!" Steve sounds ten years old. Loki rolls his eyes again. These people.

"The Party Beach?" Thor sounds thrilled, and also a little put out. "You did not go without me, friends!"

"Come on Goldilocks. You were off wherever it is you go all the time and we wanted to swim. It was hot." Tony's voice.

"Ah, I suppose I cannot complain. Next time though, I will accompany you. Where is my brother? Did he also go to the Party Beach with you?"

"He sure did." Agent Barton's voice. "Dude looks like he hasn't seen the sun in about five hundred years."

Loki glares at the door.

"Where is my brother?" Thor asks again. He pounds on the door. "Brother? Are you awake?"

Loki turns off the light and opens the door a crack. "Well if I was not before, I am now, seeing as you are incapable of being quiet. What do you want?" He's secretly pleased to see his brother – his good, strong, familiar brother – but it will never do to show him that.

Thor edges closer. "Why are you in here, brother? Why do you not drink and make merry with the others?"

"I would rather choke on my own blood than socialize with those people," Loki replies coldly. Sure, it's a little uncalled for, and also untrue, but he's tired and he's hurt and he's pretty sure he's dying.

Thor doesn't look shocked at his comment. "What is wrong, brother? Something bothers you."

"A lot bothers me," Loki snaps quietly. "I have no magic, I must live with those oafs night and day, and I may or may not have been the victim of some very dark magic, but other than that, nothing at all bothers me, Thor."

"Dark magic?" Thor puts his hand on the door, starts pushing a little. Loki is all too aware of the other Avengers watching curiously in the background, and has to lean all his weight against the door to keep it from opening. "What do you mean, Loki?" He's serious now, blue eyes shining with concern.

Loki gives up. Some part of him – okay, most of him – wants his brother's attention, wants to tell his brother what's going on. "Well if you are going to come in, be quick about it!" He steps back, and Thor shoves open the door, barreling in like a giant.

"You worry me, brother. What dark magic do you speak of?"

Loki flicks on the light, and Thor lets out a roar of rage. Natasha lets out a quickly stifled scream from the other room. "Brother! What in Odin's name happened to you?" He starts to reach for Loki, but one brush of his rough fingers and Loki hisses in pain, pulling back. "For the love of Asgard, do not touch me!"

Thor draws back his hand, his face thunderous. "Who has done this to you, Loki? Tell me, and I will make sure they regret it, I swear to you."

"I hope you are being honest when you say that. It was your friends, brother, whom you speak so highly of." Loki can't help a little smile of triumph as Thor's face falls.

"They did this to you? Why would they do such a thing?"

"I do not pretend to know their evil minds," Loki replies, looking at the floor.

Thor is silent for a moment, and then he touches Loki's arm gently. "I will keep my word, Loki. They will regret it. No one harms my brother without facing my wrath. But tell me, what did they do? I was not aware any of my friends knew how to cast magic spells."

"I do not know how they did it. They took me to this – place. It was very bright and there was water and sand."

Thor's face clears abruptly. "The Party Beach! I know of it. I visited it before with Captain Steve. Nothing so grievous happened to me there, brother. It was actually quite pleasant. We played a very amusing game, some sort of ball, and I lost badly." He chuckles in memory,and Loki glares. Thor clears his throat. "That is all that occurred today?"

"That is all." Loki sighs. He's starting to feel sick again, and his skin burns like fire.

Thor sighs too. "Come with me, brother. I will confront them."

Loki plants his feet. "Must I? I would rather they not see me in this... condition."

"Loki. Come with me." Thor puts a gentle arm around his shoulders, and Loki finds himself giving in. He follows his brother out of the bedroom, and the effect on the room is immediate.

"Oh holy sh..." Then laughing. Clint.

"Whoooa, am I wearing my rose-coloured glasses again, or do you guys see that too?" Tony.

"I thought I knew before what it was like to 'see red' but now I'm not so sure." Bruce.

Natasha hisses in sympathy, and Steve is staring open-mouthed.

"Oh good. I thought I was just raging drunk." Tony again.

Loki finds himself shivering under Thor's arm. Being the center of attention is only fun if it's for something good. He hates it when it's for the wrong reasons, and he hates being embarrassed. He also hates feeling pathetic. Every one of those things is happening right now.

"Please, friends. I want to know which one of you felt it would be a good idea to hurt my brother in this fashion." Thor's voice is quiet, but there's danger behind it, and Loki presses a little closer. "I can assure you I do not find it amusing, and I will not tolerate it."

"I can tell you right now, Hammer Time, none of us did that to your baby bro." Tony's smiling, but he looks the tiniest bit sympathetic.

"Then who?" Thor growls.

"That'd be the sun," Steve puts in gently.

"DO I LOOK IN A GAMING MOOD?" Thor roars, and everyone jumps. "THE SUN DOES NOT DO SUCH THINGS!" Tony has spilled his drink all over himself. Loki can't help smirking.

"I guess none of us thought of it, but we thought he already knew." Steve crosses his arms.

Thor relaxes just the tiniest bit. "Knew what, friend Steve?"

"About getting sunburned." Steve shifts uncomfortably. "I was wearing sunscreen, I put it on before I left the house. I didn't even think to ask if anyone else needed it. Everybody usually takes care of that stuff themselves."

"The sun did this to my brother?" Thor glares at the ceiling as though he can see the sun through it. "This is no time to jest. The sun does not do such things that I am aware of. And what is this sunscreen you speak of?"

"The sun is different where you guys are from, I'm guessing," Bruce says. "You've never got burned there?"

"Never!" Thor is indignant. "Also, the sun did not do this to me when I visited the Party Beach, and I was not wearing this screen of the sun which you speak of."

Tony chuckles. "Welcome to our world. You got pale skin, you get burned. You're a bit more ready for the sun, I think, Days of Thunder, than Rudolph there."

Loki glares at him from under Thor's arm. He can't think of anything to say, which doesn't happen often. "My name is not Rudolph," he says finally.

Tony shrugs. "I know."

"That is the nastiest sunburn I've ever seen," Clint says, and Loki can tell he's trying not to laugh.

"I can assure you it is probably much 'nastier' than you even know, Agent Barton," he snaps. "I cannot even lay down properly." To his horror, tears are threatening at the back of his eyes. It's one of the things he hates most about himself – when he gets very mad, he cries. It's never useful in any situation, and immediately cancels out most of the fear he is trying to instill.

Thor, who knows him better than Loki likes to admit, senses it immediately and pulls him closer. "Is there no way to be rid of this awful redness?"

Loki gives in, feeling safe – if not exactly happy – against his big brother's side, and leans his forehead on Thor's shoulder, concentrating on controlling his emotions.

"Vinegar," Natasha speaks up. "It works for me, always has. I burn pretty badly too. Redhead, what can I say. I'm lucky."

"Vinegar?" Thor raises his eyebrows. "I know nothing of this word."

"You put it on your french fries, you know?" Clint acts out pouring vinegar on fries.

"I know nothing of french..."

"Wait just one second." Natasha runs to the kitchen and comes back a moment later with a bottle. "Here you go. Put it on gently, it might sting a little. But in the morning it'll feel better."

"I thank you, my lady." Thor eyes the bottle slightly suspiciously.

"Don't worry, won't kill him," Tony grins. "And he'll smell good enough to eat after."

Thor glares. "I do hope you are jesting."

"Am I wearing a joker's hat or something?" Tony stands up suddenly, wobbling a little. "Ugh. I suddenly feel like I'm gonna puke. It's weird."

Steve smiles angelically. "I guess I should've warned you I can't get drunk before we started that drinking contest."

X

"Do stand still, brother." Thor is patting the strong-smelling liquid all over his shoulders.

Loki frowns, which also hurts. "I wish to leave this place, Thor. Your friends laugh at my pain."

Thor looks uncomfortable. "But they did help you, brother."

"That remains to be seen. This may be just another of their pranks, like taking me to this Party Beach and allowing me to cook like a side of meat." Loki knows he's sulking, but he can't help it.

"I believe it was a mistake, Loki. Besides, you of all people should understand the fun of a little prank."

"I have never done something so vindictive," Loki lies. "I would never, either."

Thor laughs. "Go to bed, brother. You do get grumpy when you are weary."

"I am not weary," Loki snaps, stifling a yawn.

He still has to lay on his back, but Thor sits on the bed next to him and begins talking, telling him about his day in Asgard.

Loki is asleep within minutes.

X

Please let me know what you thought! It would be much appreciated. :)

I'm thinking of maybe writing more of them, turning it into a series of stories in which Loki and Thor are confused by things on Earth. We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for reading!