Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel-characters!

Summary: Thor and the Avengers wake up with no memory of the last 24 hours. They have no idea what has happened, but it makes even less sense when Thor finds Loki beaten half to death.

No slash! This story takes place a few months after 'The Avengers'. Rated T just to be safe.

AN: I couldn't help it so I began to write this new story. The idea came from a story I read a long time ago in the Merlin-fandom. Please enjoy reading the first chapter and please let me know what your thoughts are so far. Any and all feedback is welcom.

Also, all credit of the picture used as 'cover' for this story goes to wantstobelieve on Tumblr!

~ Shadows and Regrets ~

Chapter 1

When Thor woke, he needed a moment to remember where he was exactly. Apparently, he was lying on the ground in the hall of Stark's mansion. His entire body was twisted in a weird position and Thor moved to sit up. He cursed the skies because really, he had never before experienced such a headache!

Finally he did manage to sit up and he narrowed his eyes while looking around him. The edges of his vision blurred and he needed a moment to steady himself. He opened the door closest to him and stumbled into the living room. Clint Barton lay on a couch, his legs crossed and his arms hanging over the edge.

"Clint," Thor growled, "Clint, wake up."

The man stirred to life. It took him a second to realize where he was and the confusion was clearly visibly in his eyes. Clint jumped up, but he instantly regretted the sudden movements and he allowed himself to fall back onto the couch. "Oh my," he complained, "I feel…drunk."

"Stark!" Thor shouted. He saw Clint cringe back at his loud, booming voice and even Thor had to admit that he had used a too loud voice. "Stark, what have you done to us?"

But it wasn't Tony who entered the living room, it was Bruce. He looked surprisingly pale and hung-over which was not good. If anyone should stay away from alcohol, it was the man who could turn into a giant green beast. Bruce's face was wet and Thor knew he had splashed cold water into it.

Thor made a mental note himself to do the same once he felt strong enough to actually cross the room. Okay – he had never been so drunk or hung-over before. And that was saying something because he had always felt Asgardian feasts were much better than Midgardian ones.

"You guys look as awful as I feel," Bruce commented dryly. He took his glasses from his inner pocket and placed them on his nose. "What did we do last night?"

"I-" Thor thought deeply, but his mind felt like a great blank page, "I do not know."

"You don't know?" Clint had dropped his head into his hands, but now he looked up at the two other men. "I don't know!"

"Huh," Bruce exhaled, "that's weird. I can't remember anything from yesterday either."

Thor had enough of this. "Stark!"

"Please," Clint gnarled, "keep your voice down."

Above them sounded footsteps and Thor recognized them to be Tony's. As soon as that thought passed him, Thor couldn't help but think that he had lived in this mansion for too long. He had entered the awkward stage of knowing his roommates footsteps. A few seconds passed where everyone enjoyed the silence and then Tony dragged himself into the living room. He was wearing sunglasses and wrinkled clothes. It appeared he had slept in that outfit and Thor realized that he still wore his daily outfit as well.

"We must have gone to one hell of a party," Tony said, his voice barely audible but clearly amused, "I haven't been so hung-over in years! Too bad I don't remember anything. Tell me, did I do something embarrassing?"

"Something is wrong," Thor said, his headache almost forgotten. The others didn't have as much luck. Each of them visibly recoiled from Thor and his loud voice. "Neither of us remembers last night."

"No," Bruce corrected him, "neither of us remembers yesterday." Everyone turned to look at Banner. "Think about it," he continued, "do any of you recall getting up in the morning? Getting dressed or talking to someone? It's a big black whole in my memory."

"He's right," Clint sighed, dropping his head back into his hands, "I can't remember the last twenty-four hours."

"Jarvis?" Tony called for his computer.

"Yes, sir?"

"Show me the surveillance recordings from yesterday."

There was a short pause where nothing happened and Thor knew something was wrong. It had taken him weeks, even months to understand how Jarvis the Computer worked, but he had instantly known that it was the fastest computer on this earth. Silence from him – it? – never meant anything good.

"There are no recordings, sir."

"What do you mean?" Tony walked towards an empty screen that hung next to the door and began typing away on it. "There has to be something."

"There is nothing, sir," Jarvis replied in his usual calm and almost soothing voice.

Tony continued to type away. "Did someone erase it?"

"There is nothing, sir."

And that right there was the first time Thor had heard Jarvis say something so strange. It sounded as if the computer was confused which seemed to alert Tony. The millionaire spun around and allowed his gaze to fall on everyone in the room. "Jarvis is right; there are no recordings from the last twenty-four hours. It's as if yesterday didn't happen."

Behind him, Natasha appeared. She looked like she had been in the middle of a war. Her hair stood wild and her eyes were oddly small. She wasn't wearing any make-up, but that wasn't what concerned everyone. When Natasha lifted her right hand to rub in her eyes, everyone's eyes fell on the red stains covering her skin.

"Is that…blood?" Bruce asked.

Natasha raised both hands and stared at them. She became confused and a little panicked, but Natasha was still a spy and she quickly managed to get a grip on herself. "What happened?" She asked. "I can't remember how I got this."

Clint was at her side in a second, checking if she had any wounds.

"I'm not hurt, Clint," Natasha assured him, slapping away her friends hands, "this isn't my blood."

Tony asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Then who's is it?"

Silence.

"All right, we need answers!" Tony said, clearly annoyed that none of them had a real grip on the situation. "Jarvis, call agent Coulson."

"Yes, sir."

~ o ~

The Avengers sat gathered around a table in SHIELD headquarters. At one side sat Thor, Bruce, Tony, Clint and Natasha. On the other sat Coulson, Fury and Steve. As soon as the Captain had heard of his friends' situation, he had returned to New York from a mission to aid them.

"So you're all saying," Fury began, sounding almost doubtful, "that you don't remember anything from the last day."

"That is exactly what we are saying," Bruce replied.

"Aye," agreed Thor.

"Also," Tony added before Fury could catapult more questions at them, "Jarvis has no recordings what so ever. Someone intentionally deleted them and was good enough to not leave a trail."

Coulson, as usual, sat composed at Fury's side. His hands were folded together and lay casually on the table surface. "If someone tampered with your memories and with Jarvis, then it must have been someone powerful," he said, "It's not easy to break into Jarvis' system."

Tony smiled broadly as if he had just received a high compliment.

"And you all woke at Stark's mansion?" Steve asked. As leader of the group, he felt responsible. Something had happened and he hadn't been there. A small trace of guilt could be seen in his soft blue eyes.

"Yes," Natasha said. She looked around the table and inhaled deeply. "I also woke up with blood on my hands."

"None of you are injured?" Fury asked.

"We're all fine," Clint answered, "a doctor already checked us out."

"All right," Fury said, standing up from his seat and looking down at his team of superheroes, "I want each and every one of you to report to the medical bay again. I want to run some tests and scans. Maybe we can find something interesting."

"We can't stay here," Tony objected, "we should be out there looking for whoever did this to us."

"I understand that," Fury's one eye fell heavily on Stark, "and as soon as the tests are done, you're free to find the one responsible. First, I want to make sure that you're all fine. I can't have you Scooby Gang running around New York if someone messed with your brains."

None could object to that.

~ o ~

When Thor arrived back at Stark's mansion late that night, he hadn't expected to feel so tired. There had been times where he had not slept for days, but it seemed that Fury's tests had simply exhausted him. He wasn't alone. The others had returned to the Mansion as well. They had vowed to get some sleep and begin their search for the culprit in the morning.

"Good night, Thor," Natasha said before disappearing into her bedroom.

When Thor opened the door to his room and switched on the lights, he hadn't expected to find…this. Thor had always been a disorderly person (thank the Gods that he had a personal servant on Asgard to keep his chambers clean!), but never had his room in Stark's mansion looked like a bomb had gone off. It was a mess. His night stand lay scattered on the ground and a chair had been broken into three large pieces.

Thor saw it then.

Blood.

With his breath stuck in his chest, he stepped further into the room. It was obvious that a fight had taken place and Thor tried to remember anything. It was pointless. He took a step to the left side of his bed where the blood trail apparently originated from. Thor felt all the blood withdraw from his face and limbs.

"Loki!"

Thor rushed to his brother's side, but he was afraid to touch him. Loki looked so small and fragile. Thor feared that if he touched him, Loki might just fall apart. Finally, Thor found enough courage and turned Loki onto his back. The God of Thunder felt like he might actually throw up.

Loki's right eye was swollen shut and his lips were cut. Dried blood made it difficult to see if he had any more wounds, but when Thor reached for his brother's hands, he found them cold and trembling. At least Loki was still breathing, but that brought little comfort to Thor at this moment. He placed a hand on his brother's chest and felt it rise and fall again.

If only barely.

Thor began to tremble himself. He lost control over his body and mind at that moment. He was simply too shocked to see his brother beaten half to death.

"Help!" He screamed, pulling Loki's broken form into his lap. "Someone please help!"

AN: So what do you think?