Chapter Text
It was a flash of green that woke Thor up. It had illuminated his room in the little cabin that he shared with Valkyrie and Bruce. Thor slowly made his way into the hallway, Stormbreaker in hand, wary about who it was. It seemed that this flash of green had woken up the other inhabitants as Valkyrie peaked her head into the hallway and Bruce came out of his room, adjusting his glasses.
“What the fuck is happening?” Valkyrie mumbled. “If this is another alien invasion, I will lose my mind.”
Bruce nodded along. “I don’t like that possibility either.”
Everyone quieted down when they heard a banging at the door. Thor slowly approached the door, motioning for his roommates to follow him. Valkyrie had grabbed a sword on the way to the door and Bruce was simply coming along, telling himself that it couldn’t be an enemy and that weapons weren’t needed. But who was he to tell that to battle loving Asgardians?
“Who is it?” Thor exclaimed.
There was no answer and when Thor opened the door, no one was there. Slowly, he closed the door and turned around. Valkyrie and Bruce looked confused but Thor quickly dropped his weapon and made his way to the living room. What the two others couldn’t see was that someone was in the living room.
“Brother!” Thor exclaimed as he saw Loki. “You’re alive!” There was no anger this time, just pure and genuine happiness about his brother’s well-being.
“Yes, you really thought I had died? After all the instances where I had faked my death, you should have known that I couldn’t possibly be dead. I didn’t revert back to being-- well, I didn’t turn blue.” Loki was smirking.
Thor couldn’t find it in himself to be upset. He simply pulled Loki into a bone-crushing hug. Loki let him do as he pleases while giving a little wave to Bruce and Valkyrie in the background.
“Glad to see you’re not dead.” Bruce offered with a smile. “But why haven’t you come back earlier? I mean, Thor killed Thanos so there was no real danger for you anymore. Then I even reversed the snap and Tony killed Thanos. Why wait so long show back up?”
“Can you imagine how hard it is to get to Midgard when you were left for dead after the ground you were standing on exploded in space. I’m lucky these Guardians found me. Do you know them? They said they knew you, brother.” Loki explained.
“Ah, the Guardians!” Thor let go of his brother. “Yes, they are quite good friends of mine but I decided to stay on Midgard and not travel the galaxy with them. Partially because that Peter Quill man seemed to not want me on board.”
“You can’t imagine how much Thor mourned for you.” Valkyrie crossed her arms. “Couldn’t be bothered to even send him a message, could you?”
“It’s alright!” Thor exclaimed, not wanting them to fight. “I’m fine and Loki is alive! There is no reason to protect me and get angry at him on my behalf.”
The woman behind him heaved a sigh. “I suppose. But now that Loki is back, won’t this Dr Stange be concerned?”
“I’ll talk to him and the other members of the Avengers tomorrow. For now, you should rest, brother.” Thor smiled. “I doubt you had much time to rest lately.”
“No rest for the wicked.” Loki joked. When he saw Thor’s face crumble in concern, he knew that his brother was about to go on a tangent about Loki not being wicked and being a good brother. He quickly decided to shut that down. “Sleep does sound nice.”
“Well, you’re not sleeping in my room.” Valkyrie joked.
“You can sleep on the couch tonight. If you want to stay, we can surely turn the spare room into a bedroom.” Bruce suggested. “For now, I’ll go back to sleep.”
“Me, too.” With that, Valkyrie waved and walked back into the hallway. “Come on, big guy. Leave the two of them alone.”
Bruce followed and the two of them retired into their bedrooms. Thor did quick work getting a blanket and pillows for his brother. Loki was a little overwhelmed by how much his brother still cared about him after all these years.
Eventually, Thor had instructed Loki to sit down and the god did so. Being with his brother again and being safe, felt surreal and he was fully expecting to just wake up any minute to the horrible torture that floating through endless space essentially was, not knowing if he’d ever make his way back – or simply to the actual torture he had been put through at the hands of Thanos himself.
“Brother, are you sure that you’re alright? Are you injured?” Thor asked, slightly crouching to be at eye level with the now sitting Loki.
“I’m alright. Thank you for letting me stay here, brother.” Loki said, a little spaced out. “I will try not to bother you and your roommates.”
“I see.” Thor smiled gently, not his usual full-blown smile but a small and relieved one. “If you need anything, you can call me, yes?”
“I will.”
Thor was wary about his brother’s words. He was sure that Loki was in fact not alright. Something seemed to bother him but he figured that going on about it would only irritate his brother. Faintly, he recalled memories of Loki getting hurt as a child and then getting mad at Thor for asking about it one too many times. On top of that, everyone else was still a little wary about the past happenings, to say the least. People got hurt and went to the limits of their capabilities, not even knowing if all their efforts would be fruitful. Maybe Loki needed a few days to get used to his new home and to sort through his emotions.
With another reassuring smile, he wished Loki a good night and retreated to his room. Loki lied down on the couch, pulling the blanket over his shoulders. The warmth of the blanket and the remnants of the fire that was slowly burning out in the fireplace were comforting. They were a nice contrast to the cold of space, where he had been floating for days before he was found.
Loki knew that sleep wouldn’t come easily but he closed his eyes nonetheless. The darkness was horribly reminiscent of the vast void of space that he had been floating in but he chose to ignore the fear it brought up in him – if he could only ignore it for long enough, he was sure that he would overcome it.
---
Thor woke up once again that night; this time to screaming. It was only five in the morning and he would have been annoyed about being woken up yet again, had it not been for the fact that these screams were unmistakenly his brother’s. Needless to say, he was quickly on his way to the living room to find Loki sitting upright on the couch, panting, shaking and looking absolutely terrified.
“Brother, are you alright? Did somebody try to hurt you?”
Thor seemed really worried and therefore Loki decided to tell him the truth. Otherwise, he just might have started looking around the house for intruders or enemies.
“I’m fine. I was just experiencing a nightmare. But now I’m awake and the nightmare is gone.” Loki tried really hard to keep his voice steady. “You can go back to bed. There is no one here that could hurt us.”
Much to Loki’s surprise and slight annoyance, Thor didn’t go back to bed. Instead, he sat down on the couch at Loki’s feet and put a hand on his brother’s legs in a comforting gesture.
“What did you dream about?”
“Nothing that should concern you.” Loki shook his head.
“Loki, I know we had our differences but you can trust me. Did you dream about Thanos and his people?” Thor insisted.
“Thor, I am alright. You can go back to bed.” Loki hissed quietly, not meeting his brother's eyes.
Thor sighed quietly and decided to try a different approach. “Do you remember when we were little? We had been out hunting and a wild beast attacked us. You had nightmares for a week after that and every night I could hear the pitter-patter of your little feet approaching my door. Every night I would immediately make room for you in my bed before you had even entered my chambers.”
Loki slowly looked up, locking eyes with his brother. “It was not that bad of a nightmare. There’s no need to worry about me.”
“It must have been rather bad if you woke up screaming.” Thor probed further. “Do you not want to talk about it?”
“No.” Loki said firmly.
“May I stay with you? You don’t have to tell me anything. I would merely like to keep you company as I believe that it would be for the best to not leave you alone.”
Loki heaved a sigh. “You don’t have to do that but I don’t think I will be able to convince you to simply go back to bed, right?”
“Right.” With that, Thor inched closer, leaning against the back of the couch. “How about we talk about something other than your nightmares? There are so many people that you should meet. Did you know that Tony now has a daughter?”
“A daughter? That’s good for him.” Loki smiled tiredly, leaning his head back against the couch. “What’s her name?”
“Morgan.” Thor smiled. “You could visit them someday. She would probably love to see some of your illusions and other tricks.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t. I doubt that anyone would want to actually see me again and I can understand that after all I have done.”
“But you are a hero now. You fought Thanos. You were willing to risk your life for me and for everyone in the galaxy.” Thor smiled softly and put a hand on Loki’s shoulder. “Too bad you tried to attack him with a knife.”
Loki sighed again. “A hero? Now, I wouldn’t call myself a hero. I attacked Midgard, in case you have forgotten.”
“You were tortured by Thanos. He tortured you and weakened your mind and then he controlled you.”
“You don’t know that.” Loki hissed. “What are you talking about?”
“Brother, I’m not stupid. You were not yourself up until the big guy slammed you into the ground. The mind control on Clint and Dr Selvig wore off once they were exposed to being hit or thrown around.”
“I was more in control than them. If Thanos had simply mind controlled me, he might as well have attacked earth himself. I wasn’t merely a mindless puppet to him.”
“But you were under some sort of control. He tortured you for a long time until you broke. I don’t blame you anymore.”
“But I am a god.” Loki snapped. “I should have fought harder!”
Thor gave Loki’s shoulder a tight squeeze. “None of that. It is in the past and you fought against Thanos at my side. We shall talk to the other teammates during the next days but for now, you should try to sleep.”
“You should go back to bed.” Loki insisted, his eyes closing again. “I don’t need comfort. I am no longer the child that would crawl into bed with you at night.”
“But you are still my brother.” Thor slowly rubbed Loki’s shoulder. “I will stay, whether you like it or not. Now go to sleep.”
Loki wanted to argue but he was too exhausted. He didn’t remember the last time he had slept properly. Falling through space didn’t allow him to sleep much and the ship of the Guardians was not comfortable or quiet enough to have a good night's rest. On top of that, he was plagued by nightmares – not that he would ever admit it to his brother. Yet, when his brother was next to him and he was wrapped in a soft blanket, he felt the tiredness overtake him and before he knew it, he was asleep.
---
When Valkyrie came out of her room the next morning, she was confused as to why Bruce was standing in the archway to the living room.
“What is going on now?” She raised an eyebrow.
Bruce pointed at the couch where Loki and Thor were asleep, the mage leaning against his older brother and the other having an arm wrapped around him. Shortly after he had fallen asleep, Loki had slowly slouched against his brother and Thor had of course simply put an arm around him.
“I don’t want to wake them but I want to make something to eat and start the coffee.”
Valkyrie was luckily not as sensible about it as Bruce because she walked straight up to Thor and tapped his shoulder. “Thor, wake up. We’re making coffee and unless you want me to drink it all, you better wake up.”
Thor did wake up and looked up at her, quickly putting a finger to his lips. “Would you get me a cup? I don’t want him to wake up.”
“Are you going to tell your friends that your brother is back?” Valykrie raised an eyebrow at him.
“I should.” Thor mused. “Perhaps I should tell Tony and Pepper first.”
“Good idea.” Bruce made his way to the kitchen. “We should pay them a visit but we need to call them first. Should I call them later?”
“Yes, thank you.” Thor looked towards the kitchen. “I have a feeling that things are going to get better now.”
Valkyrie nodded in agreement and then smirked at Thor. “I suppose that you two have reconciled, right?”
Thor thought for a second and then nodded. “You could say so.”