Thor was the golden prince, the heir to the to the conglomerate (or should we say kingdom?) that was Asgard. A terrifyingly powerful enterprise that was run strictly by the big bad Odin, a white-haired businessman from another country, nobody knew exactly where.

Thor could have simply stayed behind his father, been a good little heir. But he liked the fight and war a bit too much. He liked the taste of blood in his mouth. He liked the the expression of defeat in his rival's eyes when they inevitably lost. And this was a good thing in times of conflict, a good motivation, an important feeling, but it could be dangerous it times of peace.

So Thor fought.

In the dirtiest, most underground places he fought, he fought against rascals, hobos, druggies or on a good day, against professional boxers. His blue eyes shined like sapphires in the middle of the dirt, in the middle of the darkness, in the middle of rotten teeth and people screaming. He was like a god amongst them. A god with a body made to fight. And fight he did.

Gambling in boxing matches was another one of the dark industries that were blooming in New York in the last years. Bought fighters, rotten dealers, fixed combats and speculation everywhere. But even the most stupid of the people who bet knew not to do it against the God of thunder. A man who could not be bought /he didn't need the money, after all/ and a man with the fist of the gods. The perfect embodiment of the force and brutality of old vikings. Unstoppable.

So, that night, when Thor defeated the very impressive Destroyer, no one was surprised. They knew that was the only option. He winked an eye to his girl, the lovely Lady Jane Foster, and left the ring victorious. But as he left the boxing ring, his smile also disappeared. As much as he was happy and felt complete on the ring, his life was not so bright.

When he was fighting there was only his opponent and him in the world, no time for thinking, no time for second guesses, just instincts and fight, and the woman he loved watching him in awe. It was his natural environment. But when he got out his real life came back again with all its shadows. Si many unwelcome memories, past mistakes. His father's dark rule. The thought of his brother, who had let go on him on that bridge and fallen. He was never quite the same after that. Dark days and dark nights.

He didn't want the sweet aftertaste of the fight to end, so when he was told that someone was looking for him, while he was changing to his regular clothes, he refused to see them. His sad life could wait a little longer while he wallowed on the victory.

"Unless it's the Lady Jane, I will see no one." He boomed with his grave voice.

"Ok, 'll tell him to leave. He's probably just a fan, he says he's your brother, but he looks nothing like you."

Now, that set a lot of alarms for Thor.

"Pale, thin, tall, green eyes~"

"Yes."
That was him. That was his description.

"Loki... Let him in this instant."

And so Loki and his silent partner Barton appeared on the changing room. Loki-s appearance shook Thor more than he would ever care to admit. Could he really be there? Could it be true? Could his brother have decided to speak to him again? He would have hoped to meet his brother again in better circumstances, when he wasn't all sweaty and bruised from the fight, but... who cared? The sight of his brother, after, so many years... he wasn't like he remembered him. Had he always been so pale? So melancholic? And those shadows under his eyes... As changed as he may be it was him, that was his face. It was his brother after so long. Thor could do nothing but hug him with all his considerable force. His brother did not return it, he just there impassive.

"Loki! It's been so long... I thought you were dead."

"Did you mourn me?" Loki asked with his usual brand of dry irony. He sighed. "This ain't a social call, brother. I didn't come here because I wanted to see you again. In fact, if I could have avoided it I would."

The poorly lit room felt colder, suddenly.

Loki took a cigarette and lit it, calmly.

"You have probably heard about that missing police officer, and how I'm the main suspect. Well, we know that the man is alive and we want to find him and show to the world that he-s not dead, and thus I didn't kill him."

"This is news to me, Loki."

"But project Tesseract is not, right, brother?"

"No, I am part of that project. I don't understand many of the working or the specifics but father says it is a very good business. That is very important to the company."

"So important that he is willing to put me in jail." Loki muttered under his breath while taking another drag of his cigarette.

"But this is good." Barton said. "It means Thor can go to thee enterprise headquarters and ask for details, maybe access some documents or talk to someone who knows where Coulson is. Tell us, blonde guy, how far are you willing to go to save your brother from jail_"

"As far as I need to go,"

"That would mean you would betray father's trust."

"If what you say is true and father is trying to frame you, then I'm happy to be working against him."
It was still raining when they went out. The plan for the night was simple, go to the main building where Thor would ask to see everything related to the Tesseract project. Then, the secretary would leave, leaving Thor alone in the building. He would let Loki and Barton in and they would search the place until they found something decent.

And they did.

All the dirty details, the cops that had been paid off, engineers and doctors bribed to keep quiet about the materials flaws. Thor was getting more disenchanted with the his father and the enterprise he was supposed to be a part of. He lit a cigarette.

"There's an address here." Barton called from the other side of the room. "And under it's written: classified P. T."

"Project Tesseract" Loki deduced.

Thor went to where Barton and saw the address written in the file with black ink.

"I know this adress. Is where Banner lives!"

"Banner?"

"Bruce Banner. He is a physicist, but sometimes he gets angry and fights, in the ring. Only occasionally, but he is good. He has been the only the only to defeat me so far... Maybe you have the announcements. Green with rage! Man or monster? It's the Hulk!"

Loki took his hat from the table and retrieved his trench coat.

"Well, brother, it seems that you friend/scientist/rage monster is our next stop."

When they went out, it was still night, it was still dark.

The mystery still unsolved.

A/N: Reviews are always welcome.

Hope you enjoyed!