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Chapter Text

The heat was intense as the air around Loki reached a temperature akin to a furnace.  He choked as he tried to draw a breath into lungs that felt like sandpaper.  His tongue was dry, his eyes ached, he lost all sense and reason as his body gave itself over to the intense-

Loki startled awake as something heavy landed on his stomach and a ball-shaped paperweight rolled from his stomach to the ground.

“You dream too vividly.  I told you I can give you something for that.”  Victor Von Doom’s voice was curt as he examined the mechanisms of the device he was working on without looking up after having tossed the paperweight onto Loki’s stomach.

“And I told you no.”  Loki growled in reply, irritated at the vulnerability he displayed while sleeping, that he had even fallen asleep in front of the mortal at all.

Two months had passed since the Chitauri attacked New York and Loki had very nearly been taken back to Asgard in chains.  He had made a last minute escape and the ensuing battle only further damaged his already suffering body.  Between torture at the hands of the Other, use of the scepter, being pulverized by the Hulk, fighting Thor, and the general mayhem in between…Loki had been pushed to his limits.  He had nowhere to go on Midgard, he was hiding out from Thanos and the Other [little good there likely was in that], and he had been laying low because of Thor and the Avengers.  Two weeks into skulking about and trying to pass himself off as various mortals to survive, he had tried to impersonate the wrong mortal.

Or the right one, given what came later.

Once Victor had confirmed Loki’s identity as the one who’d led the Chitauri [confirmed with a laugh], he offered Loki aid.

“We have a saying here.  Beggars can’t be choosers."

“How dare you.”  Loki snarled.  “I am a-"

“Defeated loser, as far as the media is concerned.  Also under the effects of mental manipulation and torture.”

Loki narrowed his eyes as his tension grew.  “You know not of what you speak.”

“I never speak without knowing.  Clearly the same can’t be said of you.”  Victor said in factual tone.  “I can help you regain your physical strength and mental fortitude, and offer protection from the Avengers.  In exchange, I want details about the sorcery you wield, Asgard, and those creatures you brought here.”

“I do not make deals with petty mortals.”

“Well then, enjoy living like a rat.”  Victor started to walk away and Loki had little recourse but to stop him and accept his offer.

Loki had nightmares of his time with Thanos, and Victor was clinical about the whole affair.  The mortal was extremely intelligent, Loki had to grant, and he wielded strong magics that made him wary.  Loki’s physical and mental health had indeed made great leaps, and Loki’s attempts to be stingy with information had not gone well.  He’d ended up revealing far more than he’d have liked, but not as much as Victor would have liked.

He’d had two run-ins with Thor, one a brief glimpse and no words exchanged.  Another, too many words had been exchanged and Victor had been privy to them all.

--

“You cannot hide on Midgard, Loki.  They think you a monster, you have no allies or resources here.”

Loki, who felt disheveled and unwell, sneered at the glowing Aesir prince before him.  “You underestimate me as usual, Thor.”

“Or I know you too well.  You crave comforts and attention, you cannot stay hidden even if it benefits you.”

Thor would speak of comforts, knowing nothing that Loki had been through, knowing nothing of trials and tribulations.  Perfect, foolish, self-righteous Thor, who would dare call Loki ‘brother’ after having tossed him into the Abyss!  To steal a throne that was rightfully Loki’s!  Whose fault was it that Loki ended up with Thanos, ended up tortured?  Thor, it was all Thor, and he could sit there in judgment on Loki…oh, it made his blood boil.  “You know nothing, Thor, as you ever have.”  Loki hissed, and to his further rage, Thor looked patronizing.

“I know that you have lost, time and again.  You rage like a petty child for things which are-”

“-A child?”  Loki snapped.  “A monster and a child.”  he scoffed.  “Is that what you tell your little mortal friends of me?  What you tell sweet Jane?”

“Speak not of Jane.”  Thor snarled.

“I still owe her a visit-”  Mjolnir came dangerously close to Loki’s head and Thor charged, but he was met only with an after image as the real Loki smirked from behind him.  “Still falling for that?  You truly are a fool, Thor.”

“And you are annoying as Hell.”  came a voice from behind Loki as a suited Tony Stark made to grab him from behind.

Loki was prepared and teleported aside, only to find himself snatched by the collar by Thor.  He materialized a dagger and made to stab Thor, but his wrist was snatched and bent painfully.

“We are returning to Asgard, where you will face justice for your crimes, Loki.”

“Loki, not brother?”  Loki taunted.  “Finally admitting you cannot have a frost giant monster for a brother?”

“It is not being a frost giant that makes you a monster, Loki.”  Thor said, meaning Loki’s behavior and madness.

But Loki heard it differently, he heard it as a slur on his intrinsic character, Thor calling him wicked or evil at his core.  “The truth at last.”  he hissed, long tired of Thor’s lies and false sentiments, preaching brotherhood just to look noble.

An explosion rocked the building next to Thor and Loki, and the distraction was enough to loose Thor’s grip as Victor snatched Loki and the pair made their escape.

--

Loki had seethed later, Victor had mocked him, and Victor had given Loki an idea.

--

“If you find him too strong, then make him weak.  He was ‘mortal’ here before.”

Loki wasn’t sure how Victor knew all of the things he did, it was troubling but also useful.  “I would need far more than I have at my disposal to attempt that.”  Preferably Gungnir, which was absolutely not an option.

“You are a sorcerer, aren’t you?  You can’t think of a single spell to make him lesser?”

Make a god lesser, as if it were that easy.  He couldn’t bind Thor’s powers without some serious magical aid, he couldn’t steal them, he couldn’t alter them-

-...But he could alter Thor.

“He called me a child.”  Loki murmured as a pleased smirk formed on his lips at a sudden idea.  “I would have him take responsibility for his words.”

--

And that was how Loki, with some vague aid from a mostly disinterested Victor, caused havoc in the city to lure in the Avengers [namely Thor].

A familiar figure flew down and landed heavily just as Loki finished tossing another of Victor’s little explosives on a vehicle.  He watched the resulting fire with satisfaction, aware that he now had an audience.

“Loki.”  Thor growled.

Loki made a look of dramatized surprise.  “Oh, no, I was not expecting you to come.  Whatever shall I do now?”  he groaned, and enjoyed the irritated look on Thor’s face.  He could still rile Thor.

Loki’s mind had been repairing itself given time and Victor’s aid, and Loki had come to realize that things he’d held as certainties had been false, some anyway.  The clear memory of Thor tossing him into the Abyss had been a lie of the Other, Loki remembered now that he had let go.  The theft of the throne was…arguably not so cut and dry.  Thor had admittedly made several attempts to offer Loki a hand despite what Loki had done.  For that, he could say he certainly no longer wished Thor dead if he ever truly had.

But not wanting Thor dead, and not wanting to trouble Thor were two different things.  Especially when Thor was determined to interfere with Loki and have him imprisoned simply for doing no less than Thor and Odin had done in their own ways.  And because Thor’s facade of noble brotherhood rankled Loki.  As if that oaf truly didn’t care that Loki was a frost giant, the son of Laufey, as if he had ever truly forgiven what Loki had done…no, he would have dragged Loki back to Asgard and let him face an executioner’s blade.  The hypocrite.

“I am not here to play games with you, Loki.  This ends now.”

“Funny you should mention games.”  Loki said with a sly, mocking smile.  “Did you enjoy that wine you shared with fair Jane?  The one from her ‘coworker’?”

Thor frowned at the words.  Jane had brought home a bottle gifted from a coworker, they had shared it the night before on one of their infrequent ‘date nights’.  “What did you do?”  his grip tightened on Mjolnir as he glared at Loki.

“Merely set the stage for the next act.”  Loki shrugged airily.  “If you wish to find out, you shall have to catch me first.”  And true to form, Thor took him up on the challenge and launched forward.  He seemed surprised when Loki made no move away and was there in solid form.

Suspicion and wariness found their way to Thor’s expression too late as Loki grinned.  “Loki-”

Loki clamped a hand on the side of Thor’s head as he completed the spell begun with the wine.  He finished with a large burst of sorcerous power straight into his would-be brother.

Thor looked to be in pain and he staggered back a couple of paces as he stared at Loki and clutched his stomach.  “What is this?” he asked through gritted teeth and dropped Mjolnir.

“Oh, come now, brother, do not be such a child over a little pain.”  Loki ‘teased’ as he stepped closer.  Thor made as if to straighten and grab Mjolnir , but he looked stunned as he found himself increasingly looking up at Loki even as a new wave of pain washed over him.

He instead snaked a hand out to Loki’s jacket as he gripped it in a fist, but before his eyes his fist was growing smaller as Loki was growing taller-no…Thor was getting shorter.  Thor met his brother’s gaze as Loki watched with a look of amusement.  “What did you do, Loki?”  he demanded again, and his voice sounded lighter, to Loki’s apparent delight as he grinned again.

Loki was asked that question right about the time Thor’s head reached the middle of his chest and he grinned down at ‘his brother’.  It felt good to be looking down at the oaf for a change.  “Is it not obvious?  You called me a ‘child’, and now I am making a child of you.”

Thor’s eyes widened at that, and he grew shorter still as his head approached Loki’s waist.  “Stop this!  Whatever you do, Father will undo-”

At ‘Father’, Loki’s sneer returned.  “Your father, remember?  And I would not be so sure.  Firstly, the Tesseract is here, I doubt the All-Father has enough dark magic for another trip so soon…and as I told you before, you underestimate me.  My sorcery is not so easily undone.”  he informed Thor with relish.

The golden-haired warrior who towered over others was fast approaching the end of his transformation.  The muscular giant had become a child again, with skinny limbs, a shock of golden hair to his neck, wide blue eyes, and clothes that most assuredly no longer fit.  Thor’s head came near to Loki’s hip bone, and Thor looked deliciously stunned.

Thor swayed a little like he might fall, and Loki clamped long fingers around the small shoulder as he chuckled.  “Careful, a child’s body is far less…coordinated.”

Thor looked up at Loki with an expression of disbelief, his own shirt swimming on him like an over-sized tunic.  “Loki.”  his voice was childish and light, and there was a sheen of sweat to his skin.  “You must change me back.  I-something is wrong.  Brother, please-”

Loki let out a bitter laugh.  “Ah, now I am ‘brother’ again.  How convenient.”

Thor reached a small hand out to grab at Loki’s free wrist as something akin to panic filled his expression and he swayed again.  “You have always been my brother, only you have ever said otherwise.  Loki, something is wrong.”

Loki frowned at the words as he observed Thor who looked…a little green around the gills.  But surely in reversing the age of a god, a bit of sickness and, or pain was to be expected.  “You are being dram-”  his hand shot up as an arrow nearly met his face and he glanced up to see Hawkeye and Black Widow not far off.

Thor seemed startled and Loki glanced skyward as he looked for a certain flying, mechanical man and didn’t see him.

Natasha looked to where Loki was standing with a small, blonde boy in front of him…one who was standing right next to Mjolnir and wearing the clothes Thor had been in.  Well, in as much as he could.  “No way.”  she breathed.

It took a minute, but Hawkeye soon made the same observations.  “Is that-”

“Hulk Smash!”  came a roar as the Hulk launched over them and charged Loki who suddenly paled and looked visibly alarmed.

“Wait!”  Natasha shouted, uncertain if the Hulk would be cautious of…Thor?

Loki’s plans would be in vain if he let himself and Thor be squashed by the Hulk, and he teleported them aside just as the Hulk slammed down where they had been.  “Terrible taste in friends as usual, Tho-…Thor?”  he blinked in surprise as Thor became dead weight under Loki’s hand, which was still on Thor’s shoulder.  Well that was boring and unplanned.  The Hulk was ready to charge him again and he made a quick decision as he looked to the Black Widow.  “I trust you can keep this one alive till I return?”  he called out with mocking amiability before he let Thor drop and teleported away again.  Hulk followed him and Natasha raced to Thor while Hawkeye loosed another arrow at Loki.

Natasha reached the boy’s side and found his skin clammy and slicked with sweat, his forehead felt too warm and she cursed.  There was no doubt in her mind that it was Thor, albeit much, much smaller.  What had that maniac done this time?

--

Thor had been raised with certainties beyond his choosing that were cemented as he grew older.  He was certain he would be King of Asgard and All-Father, certain he would wield Mjolnir till the end of his days or till he passed her to his own heir, and that he and his brother would fight side-by-side forever.

Thor’s certainties had been shaken, and while he might have been secretly glad if he had lost the certainty of the throne, the loss of the certainty of his brother crushed him.  He had never imagined his life without his brother in it, and the idea of spending thousands of years stuck ruling was really only bearable knowing his brother would be by his side.

The same brother who had lied about Odin’s death, murdered Thor with the Destroyer, tried to annihilate Jotunheim with the Bifrost, had made more attempts on his life, threatened Jane, seemed to have died, then returned with a horrible army to try to take Midgard to hurt Thor.  He had killed the mortal Coulson, and dropped Thor from a plane, and stabbed him when yet again Thor reached out to him.

Thor remembered his brother as a sweet boy who had overtime become a brooding young man, but he loved him no less at any point.  Loki was Loki.  The sight of his little brother letting go and falling into the Abyss had haunted him.  His heart had broken in that instant, and Loki’s ‘return’ had not brought back all of what Thor had lost in that belief.  Some part of Thor would always be missing where he had mourned his little brother and choked himself with grief over what might have been his part in it.  Loki, his witty and playful brother, his moody and cunning brother, had become a villain of the Midgardians who killed and acted with arrogance.  He behaved as he would have once counseled Thor against behaving as.  How had this happened?  Where had his brother gone?

His brother, who was also a frost giant, a Jotun, the son of Laufey.

Thor had been floored by the news although it had filled in certain missing pieces in why Loki had suddenly gone mad and did as he had.  It created other mysterious though, such as why he’d gone from telling Thor to never doubt that he loved him to seeking his death.

Thor had seen the tears in Loki’s eyes on mountain when he’d asked Loki to come home, he had seen his brother.  But Loki had denied him anyway, and even on Avengers Tower with wet eyes he had stabbed Thor and muttered ‘sentiment’.  Why?  Loki had claimed that Thor had tossed him from the Bifrost and Thor had demanded who controlled the would-be king but got no true answer.  Someone had fitted Loki with the scepter and the Chitauri, and they surely held great power.  But why his brother?  What had happened when Loki fell from the Bifrost?

Why did he remember things between them so differently?  He spoke of shadows and shades, of a Thor who would toss his own brother away, he spoke of Thor denying their brotherhood when only Loki had ever said they weren’t.

Thor tried not to give Loki more room to use his feelings against him.  He approached Loki without the sentimental overtures, without naming him brother, because he knew Loki would deny it and mock him.  Loki’s denial of their brotherhood was a blade through his heart and he could not bear it.  Trust this new Loki to use that against him as well, to claim that Thor was the one who denied them as brothers.

He [and the Avengers] saw Loki wreaking pointless havoc and assumed it was an invitation to battle.  Thor obliged quickly, whatever Loki’s game was he was determined to bring his brother home both to finally have him safe in hand and to have him answer for what he’d done.

But Loki had tricked him, and he’d found himself growing smaller as his brother increasingly loomed over him and grinned down at him.  Thor felt…off, wrong in a way that had nothing to do with his side.  He felt like…fingers were pressing at the edge of his mind, tentative and then aggressive as he grew dizzier and his thoughts grew less coherent.  Thor felt a sense of danger, an instinctive sense that something fundamental in him was being interfered with and he tried to make Loki understand.  Was this what Loki wanted?  The petty brat, making him a child because he’d called Loki [who was behaving like one] one.

Thor had gripped Loki’s wrist, the first contact they’d had in so long that wasn’t from a fight.  Despite everything, some part of Thor too ingrained over centuries of closeness to do otherwise sought Loki’s reassurance and help.  His brother’s help.  Thor felt Loki’s strong grip on his shoulder and it made his heart ache.  He wanted it to be in earnest, not for this trickery, not from this Loki who was not his Loki, Thor wanted his brother back.  Did Loki truly believe he did not hold Thor’s love?  Loki held it the most, his one and only little brother.  Thor would lay his heart bare if only it would reach his brother, but Loki was impenetrable, and Thor had not the words to overcome it anyway.

And then Thor had no words at all.

--

A day had passed since the Avengers found their shrunken comrade on the battlefield.  Tony and Bruce had run a battery of tests on the sleeping [child] god and found his body in a state of deep stress.

“He has a fever of one-hundred and four.”  Tony said with a tense expression.  “I don’t know if that’s normal for his people or not.  I’m assuming Reindeer Games didn’t make him small just for him to die of fever so…?”

“Maybe it’s a side effect?”  Bruce suggested again.  “We don’t understand the mechanism that did this or exactly what it does to him.  I imagine an adult…uh…’god’ is stronger than a kid one but…what does that really mean?  Is the adult power bank shoved into this little body now?   Does he even have a power bank?”

”We can ask theoreticals all day but it doesn’t change the fact he’s like this right now.”  Tony noted.

“Maybe Jane knows something.”  Natasha suggested from where she stood with her arms crossed.

Steve, who had been been out of town had returned that morning to find the chaos ensuing.  “Loki told you he was coming back, right?”

“Yeah, said something about keeping Thor alive till he returned.  Think that means he knew this would happen?”

“If he did, then he assumed we would actually be able to, which means it is...manageable.”

“Or he didn’t know.”  Tony said with a deep frown.  “Because he’s an asshole with magic powers who hates his brother.”

Clint’s lip curled with distaste at the mention of Loki and magic.  He’d had his fill of both for a lifetime.

“Well-”  Steve started before Natasha cut him off.

“He’s waking up.”

All eyes turned to Thor as he moaned a little on the bed as he rolled to his side and curled up.  His hair clung to his face, and his cheeks looked further rounded shoved against the pillow as bright, wide blue eyes opened tiredly.

“Thor?”  Bruce asked.

The boy blinked as his brow furrowed and he seemed confused a moment before he sat upright in alarm.  “Who-”  he made a retching noise as his hand flew to his stomach, and Tony barely had time to shout ‘trash can!’ before Thor lost the contents of his stomach into it.

Thor’s eyes were reddened and watery, his cheeks flushed, and his expression was…frightened?

“Thor, buddy.  You with us?”  Steve asked.

“With who?”  he asked quietly as his eyes darted between them and he clutched at the small trash can like it might shield him.

Several alarmed glances were exchanged.

“Thor.”  Tony spoke.  “Do you know who any of us are?  Do you know who you are?”

The boy sniffed and rubbed at his nose and seemed on the verge of passing out again.  “I am Thor, Prince of Asgard.  I do not know you…and I do not feel well…”

“Shit.”  Tony cursed, echoed by Natasha.

Thor looked between them with wary, bleary eyes before he suddenly fell sideways as Clint lunged to snatch the trash can and Steve slipped an arm around Thor as he settled him back into a laying position.

“On behalf of everyone here.”  Tony said in a mutter.  “Can I just say I freaking hate magic?”

--

Thor did not wake up until the late morning of the next day, but his fever had lessened into what seemed a normal temperature and his sleep patterns were normal.  The Avengers took turns watching over the sleeping god, and it was on Natasha’s shift that he woke again.

Thor sat up slowly as he squinted against bright sunlight, and found an unfamiliar woman seated before him.  The room looked strange and his stomach felt a little queasy.  He had just been speaking to Heimdall, hadn’t he?  And where was Loki?  Thor’s gaze slid around the room as he tried to understand.

“Thor?”

The woman’s voice brought Thor’s attention back as he focused on her.  “Where am I?”  he asked.  “Who are you?"

“Uh…my name is Natasha.  And you’re…in New York City.”  The boy’s expression was blank and she added.  “You call it ‘Midgard’.”  she saw his eyes widen.

“Midgard?”  Thor repeated, confused.  “No…I…”

“He’s awake?”  Steve was in the doorway.  Jarvis had alerted the Avengers to the wake-up.

Thor looked alarmed at Steve’s arrival as he looked from Natasha to Steve and gripped at his blanket.  “My Father will come for me.”  he said with a slight tremble to his lip.  “You will be in trouble.”  These people must have taken him, did they not know the All-Father would come for him?

“Thor?”  A new voice from the doorway as another woman entered, followed by two men.  The sight of so many strange adults put Thor on edge and he tensed as he scooted up against the wall of the bed.  “Thor, it’s me, it’s Jane.”  she said softly.  The lady seemed nice [he could not say for why], but Thor knew he was not supposed to listen to strangers, or let Loki to either.

Jane approached slowly, apprised of the situation and in the very, very weird situation of finding her sort-of boyfriend and lover who was also Thor the God of Thunder now in a child’s form.  Tony had gone to enlist her aid.

“He doesn’t have any memories.”  Natasha said and Jane’s eyes widened at that.  “He’s afraid.”  she noted.

Thor wanted to argue that he was not afraid, but his mouth seemed stuck shut and it was all he could to do to grip at the blanket.

Jane looked to Thor who indeed looked like an anxious, little boy.  A Thor without memories faced with a bunch of adult strangers… “I know your family, Thor.”  she finally said and his attention focused on her.  “Odin and Frigga?  The…All-Father and All-Mother?  And your brother Loki-”

“Is Loki here?”  The boy asked suddenly as he looked around as though expecting to see him.

“He-ah-”  Jane glanced around and it was Natasha who answered.

“He’s on Midgard too.  He…said he’ll be back soon.

“Loki said that?”  Thor looked confused and a little overwhelmed, and Jane moved a little closer on the bed.  The boy tensed and Jane paused.

“Yes…you and your brother are…visiting.  For study.”  Jane thought on her feet as she recalled Thor speaking of being sent to different realms to study abroad or to help with other-realm issues.  “The All-Father sent you?”

“Father did?”  Thor seemed to be wracking his brain for the memory, but could not find it.

“That’s right.”  Steve seconded the idea.  “And he sent you to us because…we’re the Avengers.  Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.  Cool, right?”  he tried, but Thor looked no less anxious or less confused.

Thor thought what they were saying was strange, he could not remember going to Midgard or it being spoken of.  He did not remember seeing Loki or meeting these ‘Avengers’.  What if this was all a lie?  Where were his father and mother?  “You…are sure Loki will come?”

“He said so.”  Natasha said plainly.

“And he’ll be fine, because…Heimdall is watching, right?”  Jane proved herself further useful as she pulled out another Asgard tidbit to feed Thor.  “He’s watching over you and Loki right now.”

The words put a flicker of relief in Thor.  Maybe…maybe they were right?  His brother was so little though, had he really said he would soon be back?  Why was he apart from Thor anyway?  His head hurt terribly and he missed his mother.  She always knew how to make him and his baby brother feel better.

--

A little more reassuring and coaxing had gotten Thor to believe their story, and the boy agreed to eat.  He seemed still anxious and shy, and he left the room holding Jane’s hand.  Thor had taken to the story of the Avengers being some kind of noble heroes that Odin wanted him to observe, and he had been surprisingly polite.  Especially given how admittedly arrogant his older counterpart could be.

“What are ya in the mood for?”  Steve asked as they entered the kitchen.

“What?”

“He means what would you like to eat?”  Jane asked.

Thor glanced around the room they had brought him to.  He saw some fruits, and he supposed it was a kitchen, but why had they brought him there?  “What the servants cook will be fine.”  he said politely.  The adults kept looking at each other when Thor said things and he didn’t know what to make of it.

“Ah, we don’t have servants here, buddy.”

Thor’s eyes widened.  “Then how do you eat?”

“We…We cook ourselves?”  Steve said, and Thor looked taken aback a moment before he considered it.

“Is it hard?”

“What, cooking?  Not always.”

Thor eyed the kitchen, he had thought before that if he knew how to make lemon tarts Loki could have them all the time.

Jane caught Thor’s glance and could see the boy-Thor-looked…maybe…intrigued?  She hadn’t been sure how to treat him, especially with him having lost his memories, but in that moment it clicked.  He was currently a kid, and yeah, she wasn’t an all-star with kids but she could get by.  “You wanna try, Thor?”

“May we make lemon tarts?”  he asked, almost tentatively.

Jane and Steve exchanged a glance.  “Uh…yeah, I can…I can google that.”

“Google?”  Another look, could these adults communicate with their minds?  Did they have sorcery like his mother?

“Mm.  It’s…like an…oracle?”

There was a moment of silence as Thor digested that before Steve asked.  “Uh, in the meantime…how about pancakes?”

--

“These?”  Thor asked as he held up a bag of marshmallows.

Steve and Thor had tag-teamed making pancake batter which had been a little adventure unto itself.  Thor had smashed his first couple of eggs, ‘gentle’ wasn’t really in the boy’s vocabulary.  But they’d eventually gotten there and Thor seemed fascinated by the process of throwing ingredients together to make the ‘paste’, he had first called it.  Steve had told him they could put something in the batter and made an offer of fillings, and Thor seemed intrigued by marshmallows.  [Mostly by squishing them and watching them expand again].  ‘They are like pillows!’ he had exclaimed.

They eventually settled on chocolate chips [Thor had never had chocolate, and to Steve’s surprise, he was only mildly intrigued by the taste [what did they do to these kids on Asgard?!] ] and Thor was ‘allowed’ to have marshmallows and cut up banana slices on the side.  Apparently they had no bananas on Asgard and he seemed quite fond of the fruit after being given a slice.

And if Jane and Steve found the sight of Thor tentatively trying a banana slice to be adorable [and if both had taken pictures on their cell phones]…well, what adult Thor didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

“Thank you, Lady Jane and Sir Steve.”  Thor eventually said, and the adults looked at each other again.

“Just Steve is fine.”

“And Jane.”

“And Aunt Darcy!  Oh my god, he is sooo cute.  Are those pancakes?  Good choice.”  Darcy had been given the run-down, and apparently someone saw fit to let her into Avengers Tower and inform her of where the group was.

“Darcy-”  Jane started.

“I brought art supplies.  You’re welcome.  Baby Thunder, do you like to draw?”  Darcy all but cooed and Thor pressed closer to Steve as though nervous.

Steve loved kids, he’d had Bucky to show him what being a ‘big brother’ was all about, and he also had his own experiences to color the way he treated kids.  So Thor, Thor, pressing against him like that with his little cherub face and tiny self seeking reassurance just made his own brother slash protector instincts kick in.  “I gotta cook a few more pancakes, buddy.  She’s got a present for ya though, you wanna go see?”

Thor looked up at him with those big blue eyes and Steve resisted the urge to ruffle his hair.

“It’s okay, Thor.”  he encouraged.

Thor looked to Jane who nodded and Thor steeled himself as he made his way to Darcy.  These were great heroes of Midgard that his father wanted him to learn from.  He must be a good prince and be polite as his mother always taught him.  Thor was not used to listening to mortals, but if it was what his father wanted, then of course he would.  And Lady Jane and Sir Steve, ah, Jane and Steve, were very nice.

And bananas and marshmallows were delicious.  He couldn’t wait to have Loki try them.  Thor smiled at the thought of his brother’s little face getting excited over the squishy pillow treats.

“Oh my gawd.  He is so cute?  Can I just bottle him up?  Essence of Baby Thunder?”

“Why do you call me that?”  Thor asked as he approached.  “I am no baby.”

Darcy clutched at her heart.  “Big Thor was really hot but little Thor makes my heart do funny things. Not like in a weird way but, wow.  Can we keep him?”

“He’s not a dog, Darcy.”  Jane huffed.

“Uh, obviously.  He’s even more adorable than a dog and that’s saying something.”

Thor had slowed his approach and looked increasingly hesitant by the conversation and Darcy crouched down.

“Aww, don’t worry, little guy.  I’m about to blow your tiny mind with these crayons and markers.  Bet ya don’t have those on Asgard, do ya?”

“I am not little.”

“Of course not.”  Darcy said, and made no effort to hide her sudden photo taking.

The end result was Thor sat at the table with a stack of pancakes [marshmallows and bananas on the side], a glass of milk, bottle of water, paper with drawing supplies, and a Darcy-explanation of a phone and camera that seemed to go over Thor’s head.  The sight of himself on the screen though had startled him, and it had taken some convincing to reassure him that it wasn’t some kind of curse.

Thor was sparing with the maple syrup but seemed very into the pancake experience overall.  When it was finished, Darcy and Jane began showing Thor how to draw and color while Steve cleaned up.  Thor explained they had paints on Asgard, but not their ‘color sticks’.

Tony and Bruce were reviewing the data received from Thor, while Clint and Natasha were getting some more Thor-friendly clothes than one of the two outfits delivered while Thor was sleeping.

Thor soon drew a picture of a blonde boy holding the hand of a dark-haired boy, and he wrote above their heads in a script that none of them were familiar with.  In Asgardian, the captions read ‘Thor’ and ‘Brother’.

“Who’s that, not-so-baby Baby Thunder?”  Darcy asked.

Thor did not like being called baby and he was starting to get a little angry.  But his mother would not be happy if Thor was mean to ladies, or to the heroes of Midgard and their friends.  “That is me, and that is my baby brother Loki.”  he informed her.

Silence fell over the adults, and they really exchanged another glance at that.

“Loki…like…Loki Loki?”  Darcy clarified.

Thor’s brow furrowed.  “Loki is my brother.”  he repeated.  “He is a baby.”  and then Thor gave them their brightest smile yet.  “He is very little and he is cute.  His hair is dark, and his eyes are green, and we play every day.  I am his big brother.”  Thor explained as he emphasized Loki’s features by pointing at his own drawing.  The figures more resembled rounded stick figures with colors and clothes.  Thor also drew some green blobs at their feet.

“What are these?”  Jane asked.

Thor’s smile widened.  “Frogs.  Loki likes them.  We play with frogs sometimes.  But we do not take them inside because Mother would not like it.  And the frogs would be sad.”

Darcy put a hand over her mouth to restrain a squeal at the adorable factor while Steve pressed his lips together tightly and willed himself to remember that this was Thor and he’d be himself again.  Hopefully soon.

“So you and Loki…you’re very close?”  Jane asked.

Thor seemed not to understand what she was asking.  “When he is with me we stay close.”

“No, no.”  Darcy said as she put the finishing touches on her crayon-drawn flower.  “Do you like Loki a lot?”

“Oh.”  Thor grew further animated, as if the question were some kind of invitation.  “I love Loki the most!  He is my baby brother.  We will be brothers forever and the best of friends, and we play hiding and seeking, and we pick flowers for Mother, and-”

“-Slow down there, lightning-rod.”  Darcy lifted a brow and glanced to Jane.  “Is it weird he’s so into the guy that keeps trying to ki-”

”-Darcy!”  Jane said sharply and Darcy seemed to realize what she’d been about to say and trailed off.

“Sorry.”  she said, a little sheepishly.

Thor didn’t seem to notice an issue as he put the finishing touches on his drawing.  He would give it to Loki as a present, and then he would teach him to use these ‘crayons’ and ‘markers’.  Loki was gonna be so excited!  Thor grinned at the thought and smiled at the paper before he sighed.  He really wanted to see his brother and his parents…but he was a big boy, and he would make Father and Mother proud of him.

--

Loki had taken time to collect himself after the encounter, and to give the Hulk time to return to his mortal alter ego.  He could barely contain his anticipation to see Thor again and mock him relentlessly about the turn of events.

“You claim to hate him.”  Victor noted in his absent way as he reviewed a handful of documents.

Loki frowned at the mortal.  “I do, what of it?”

“Another saying we have here.  ‘The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference’.”

Loki’s lip curled.  “If I wished for your commentary, I would inform you.”

Victor shrugged.  “Suit yourself.”  he gave Loki a sideways glance and smiled thinly.  “I was only being a good ‘ally’.”

“We are not allies.”  Loki snapped.  “This arrangement is a matter of convenience.”

“Are you always so friendly?”

“Are you mocking me?”  Loki demanded.

Victor thought, not for the first time, Loki was much like a child indeed.  Albeit one with far more power than any child ought to have claim to.  “Are you so easily mocked?”  he queried as his gaze  returned to his documents and Loki scowled faintly.

Impudent mortal.  He spoke of things he knew naught of, Loki did not love Thor.  That was nonsense.  As if that golden-haired oaf needed another sycophant in his stable of faithful supplicants.

--

Loki shielded himself as he appeared in Avengers Tower, and after a bit of searching, he found Thor.

He found Thor with Jane.

Of course his little mortal pet would come to comfort him.  Thor, the little prince, sat at a table with…coloring supplies?

Loki moved closer and caught an upside down sight of Thor’s drawing.  He was able to make out the captions and colors, and realized it was a drawing of a young Thor and Loki…but why?

“Should we hang this on the fridge?”  Darcy asked as she pointed to Thor’s drawing and invited herself to suggest decorating the Avengers Tower fridge thus.

“What?”  Thor asked.

Darcy pointed.  “Art gets place of pride on the fridge.  So everyone can see it.”

Thor looked a little interested in the idea but shook his head.  “I will give this to Loki.”  he informed her.

Loki’s brow furrowed as his name was mentioned and he watched Thor smile down at the crudely drawn picture.  What, he had shrunk in size and was now content to do something so inane?

Darcy coughed.  “I…I’m sure he’ll like it a lot…”  she said, in a tone that suggested otherwise.

Thor beamed.  “Loki likes to paint, he will like to use these…um…"

“Crayons and markers.”  Jane supplied.

“Yes!”  Thor pointed to a little pile of green crayons he had separated out.  “Green is his favorite.  He will like those the best.  Maybe that is why he likes frogs.  Frogs are very green.”  he explained.

“Not always.  Sometimes frogs have crazy colors, see?”  Darcy had already begun scrolling google images and as she showed Thor a few pictures of multi-colored frogs, his eyes widened.

“May I show Loki this…this…”

“Phone.”  Darcy said slowly.

“He will love the frogs!”  Thor said enthusiastically.  “I did not know there were blue frogs!  And yellow!  And red!”  he snatched another drawing paper and began at once to draw some rather blobby variations of the frogs he’d just seen.  “Loki will be so happy.”  Thor said excitedly.

Loki watched the unfolding scene in nothing short of confused shock as he came to the realization that Thor was clearly not all there…but how much so?  Was it mental confusion, had he lost his memories?  Why was he speaking so much of Loki with that excited tone and that beaming face?

“You love your brother a lot, huh.”  Darcy noted with an expression that suggested she didn’t think much of that.

“The most.”  Thor corrected without looking up from his drawing.  “He is the best little brother in all the realms.”

“Uh…huh…”  Darcy said skeptically though she quit that line as Jane gave her a reproving look.

Steve finally came over to join them as he glanced at the drawings.  He knew Thor was kind of protective of his brother, and a little possessive in Steve’s opinion, but he hadn’t known about any of this.  The animated little Thor or this fanaticism about his brother.  “You spend a lot of time with Loki?”

“Every day!”  Thor informed him.  “I take care of my brother.  I am his big brother.”  he said proudly.

Loki was at a loss with what he was hearing.  He had expected to find an upset or angry Thor fumbling around as a frustrated man-stuck-as-a-child.  Loki had thought through all kinds of mockeries and humiliations he could visit upon his helpless brother.  The turnabout would be so very sweet, but Thor was…Thor was a true child?  How had this even happened?  Loki was sure the spell was fool-proof.

“Take care how?”  Darcy asked.

“I make sure Loki eats his vegetables like Mother said.  And he is bathed.  And I brush his hair.  Sometimes he brushes mine too.  And I do not let him have nightmares.  I give him many hugs.  And he does not like lizards, I do not let lizards make him scared.  I do not let anything make him scared.  He is my baby brother and I protect him.”  he said the word with emphasis, like he was repeating something he’d been told.  “I sleep with him and soothe him and pet his hair so he will feel better.  It is very soft.”  he noted.  “I sing for him sometimes.  Like Mother sings for us.”  he explained as he looked back and forth between his drawing and Darcy.

Darcy’s brow furrowed.  “How come you do all that stuff?  What about your parents?”

Thor seemed puzzled by the question.  “I take care of my brother.”  he said, as if that should explain it.

“Yeah, but…your mom and dad should do that stuff.”

Thor’s brow furrowed.  “I want to do it.  Loki is my baby brother.  I am a good big brother.  Mother said so.”

Loki knew it was Thor he was watching and listening to, but the juxtaposition of Thor as he’d come to know him and this little Thor was so utterly different as to be baffling.

The Mighty Thor, nearly-king, with all of his arrogance and swagger, his entitlement, his foolishness, his nonsense.

The child Thor, who kept babbling about Loki and fawning over him adoringly.  What was he even talking about?

Loki wasn’t entirely sure what his next move should be.  He had come to harass his adult-minded ‘brother’, not a simpering child.  How had his spell altered, and how easily could it be corrected?  That damned Victor was going to mock him for sure.

“When is Loki coming?”  Thor asked, all this talk of his brother making him all the more eager to see him.

Steve hesitated.  “I’m sure he’ll be here soon, buddy.”

Loki restrained a snort at that.  As if the Avengers would want him anywhere near their precious tower, or Thor, or them…in fact, although Thor was the person he wanted most to antagonize…the Avengers weren’t so far off.   The idea of turning Thor against them immediately was tempting, ‘help brother, these Avengers have kidnapped you and cursed me!’, but then he couldn’t take his time to agitate them.

No, there were better ways to leverage the hold he currently had on Thor via the spell he’d cast, and this Thor’s apparent investment in Loki.

He let the shield drop as he ‘appeared’ near the kitchen table and cast a quick glance around before he looked to Thor directly and said.  “Brother.”

“Crap!”  Steve was on his feet in an instant, Darcy looked alarmed and fumbled in her pocket for her taser, and Jane stood with a protective hand on Thor’s shoulder as she glared at Loki.  She knew him on sight from his appearances in news footage, also he had just called Thor ‘brother’.

“Jarvis-”

”I have already alerted the others.”

Loki smiled coyly as he looked to Jane, who was giving him the most heated expression.

But then Thor, who had been staring ever since Loki called him ‘brother’, spoke up.  “Loki?”  There was a man in the kitchen that he didn’t recognize at first.  But he had dark hair and green eyes, he had called Thor brother, he was wearing some green in his clothes, and…well, something about him just felt like Loki.  But that didn’t make sense.  Loki was a little boy.

“Yes, brother.”  Loki said again, choosing to favor the endearment to win Thor’s confidence.

“You have no right to call him that.”  Jane glared, having a mind to give the God a Mischief a piece of her mind.

Loki’s smile didn’t slip but Jane had the sense he was displeased all the same as his eyes narrowed slightly.  “And how do you suppose that?”

Jane was spared a chance to answer as Thor left his chair to head for Loki, and Jane caught him by the shoulder.  “Thor, wait-”

”It is Loki!  My brother!  I told you!”  Thor yanked free of her grasp and raced over to Loki.  “Loki, why are you so big?  Are you alright?”  he tried grab Loki but the latter stepped back out of his reach and Thor paused with confusion.

Loki found himself nearly grabbed by the energetic child-Thor and stepped back.  “Sorcery.  I learned a new trick.”  he offered.  He wasn’t exactly sure how old this Thor believed himself to be, but likely the Loki he remembered knew little sorcery.  Still, Thor had no idea the limits of sorcery anyway, and he imagined he could get Thor to believe much of anything.

“Jarvis, active lock-down protocols.”  Tony said from the doorway as he cast narrowed eyes at Loki with Bruce behind.

The open-window tower soon became a metal fortress, and the streaming sunlight was replaced with artificial light.

Loki smiled winningly.  “Metal walls?  You think that would stop me leaving if I wished to?”

Thor looked startled by the turn of events and the slamming closed of metal panels over the windows.  He was confused by why Sir Tony seemed mad, and why he had made it so dark.  Maybe they were all confused.  “This is my brother.”  Thor explained to Tony.  “This is Loki.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s the problem.”  Tony said without taking his eyes off the smug Loki.

Loki slipped a hand onto Thor’s shoulder just to rile the group.  “I assure you, I am not here to cause trouble.  I simply wished to see my brother.”  he drawled.

“Next you’ll be telling me you wanna sell me ocean-front property in Texas.”  Tony muttered.

Loki had no idea why the mortal thought Loki would do such a thing but chose to ignore it.

Clint and Natasha entered next, the latter had her arms crossed and Clint had his hands on an arrow ready to load and fire.

“You’re outnumbered.”  Clint noted.

Loki glanced around to the handful of angry mortals casting varying degrees of dirty looks his way and he thrilled at the little show he was about to give them.  He crouched down by Thor as he put on a more anxious expression and met Thor’s eyes as he murmured.  “Brother, I am scared…your friends are mean.”

Darcy’s jaw dropped.  “Did he just-"

“Oh, you asshole.”  Tony started.

Thor looked instantly concerned as he found Loki crouched down next to him.  He was still not sure what was happening, but the man was surely Loki.  Thor did not like the new trick he’d learned.  His little brother should be little.  But right now Loki was scared and Thor would make it better.  “Do not worry, Loki.”  Thor said earnestly.  “We are safe.  I will never let you be hurt, brother.”  he launched himself at Loki before the latter could object and squeezed Loki’s neck in a tight hug.

Loki frowned and made no move to hug his brother back as he waited with tension for the boy to release him.  “Yes, yes, Thor, I understand.”  he muttered uncomfortably.  Thor at any age was so physical, always grabbing and holding and moving.

“Thor, will you come back over here?”  Jane tried.

“Yeah!  We’re gonna color some more, right?”  Darcy added with eyes wide with an unspoken ‘get him away from the psycho’.

Thor remembered suddenly the drawing he had made for Loki and pulled away from his brother.  “I have a present for you, Loki.”  he raced towards the table before Loki could object, and Steve took the opportunity to lunge for and snatch Loki who surprisingly let himself be caught.

Steve clamped a hand on Loki’s shoulder and one on his wrist.  “The buck stops here.”

Tony saw Loki looking rather smug and tried to halt the situation.  “Steve, wait-”

“Brother!”  Loki’s voice was uncharacteristically higher-pitched in ‘alarm’.  “Brother, he is hurting me.”

Thor froze and whipped around with a look of alarm to match, and as he saw Steve holding onto Loki his expression grew thunderous.  For a child, he was strangely intimidating as his shy, energetic demeanor became something more in line with resembling the man he would one day be.  “Let go of him.”  he snapped.

“Thor, it isn’t what you think-”

Thor darted back to his brother as he glared at Steve who continued to hold onto Loki as Loki made a scared, pained face.  “Let go of Loki!”  he demanded.

Steve could see the game was rigged against them and he let Loki go.

“Thank you, brother.”  Loki praised, and Thor eyed the Avengers with a frown even as he looked back at his brothers with a softened expression.

Thor rubbed a hand along Loki’s side as if to comfort him before he turned his attention back on Steve.  “Why did you hurt my brother?”  he demanded.

“I-”  Steve was at a loss, and the smug look on Loki’s face wasn’t any kind of comfort.

Loki gave the Avengers a very pointed look before he played ‘little brother’ again.  “Perhaps it was a game…mortals are strange.”

Thor was a little thrown off by how Loki was talking, because his brother shouldn’t know so many words.  And words like perhaps, but maybe being bigger made him think bigger too?  He would convince Loki to fix himself soon.  Thor did not like his baby brother being bigger and talking funny.  “A game?”

Natasha saw what Loki was doing and the line he was drawing.  If they attacked Loki, they would alienate the little Thor.  And she knew the metal enclosures wouldn’t stop Loki leaving if he chose it.  “It was a game.  Steve plays too rough sometimes.”  she said dryly and received several confused looks from present company.  “He won’t do it again, right, Steve?”

“...Right.”

Thor looked dubious a moment.  “If you make my brother sad, you will be in trouble.”  he warned.

Loki smirked above his head, clearly mocking the Avengers without Thor’s notice.  Thor was a fool at any rage, and he could work with that.  “Fair warning, if any ill befalls me, there would be no way to restore a certain someone to his proper age and form.”

Tony wanted to punch his smug, slimy face, but Natasha clearly felt they should hang back and he could reason for himself why.  But at the same time, was it a big deal if Thor got pissed?  Wasn’t it more important to stop Loki?

“Understood.”  Steve finally replied as Tony kept his frown fixed on Loki.

Thor seemed to feel the matter was addressed as he abruptly turned to look up at Loki.  “Are you hungry, brother?  I will make you pancakes!  We have marshmallows!  They are like little pillows.  They go-” he mimed squishing, “-You will like them!”

Loki’s silent gloating was interrupted by Thor’s chatter, and he was given little means to protest as Thor eventually convinced Steve to ‘help Thor’ make more pancakes.

An awkward situation followed wherein the Avengers, Jane, and Darcy crowded the kitchen to observe an eager Thor making pancakes with Steve as he chattered excitedly at Loki.

“This is a marshmallow!”  Thor explained as he held up a little cylinder of white fluff that he demonstrated the squishy factor of eagerly.  “Here, brother, you try.  It is a treat.”

Loki had no interest in a marshmallow, least of all one Thor had gotten his newly grubby little hands all over, but he humored Thor in that he squished it before he tossed it aside.

“Brother, it is for eating!”

“I…do not like marshmallows.”  he said.  “I have tried them before.”  he lied, as he suspected the little Thor would insist upon it otherwise.

Thor looked ridiculously disappointed at that, and Loki eyed the miniature Thor critically.  The boy was foolish and hyper, he was cooking food like a common servant with the mortals, and he looked like a ragamuffin.  But Thor’s downfall meant little if Thor could not remember enough to know that he’d been bested.  How was Loki to gloat while he was like this?  At least the Avengers knew, but it was Thor he’d wanted to get at.

Thor was so excited he smashed up two eggs again trying to do them both in one hand.  The resulting goo-explosion seemed to make him a little sheepish, but Loki waved the mess away with his sorcery.  Thor’s eyes had gone wide as he gaped at Loki.  “You can do that too?  Brother, when did you learn this?”

“...I learned here on Midgard.”  Loki lied.

Thor looked extremely impressed, particularly given that Loki had ‘simply’ cleaned up egg residue.  “That is amazing.”  he informed his little brother before he looked him over.  “Will you be little again?”

“What?”

“I do not like you being so big, brother.”  Thor said with concern.

Loki fought a smirk at that, he had been looking forward to enjoying being the bigger of the two for once.  He thought up a quick lie for why he would not be changing back.  “Mother said I must stay in this form…as a test of my sorcery.  To see how long I can hold it.”

Thor’s brow furrowed at that.  “When did Mother say that?”

“Before she sent us to Midgard, do you not remember?”

Thor did not, but he didn’t want to worry Loki by saying so.  “Oh…yes.”  he hedged as he shuffled his foot a bit.

“Lying to a kid.  Classy.”  Tony said from the corner dining table where he watched with his arms crossed.

Thor looked stricken as Tony called him out for lying to his kid brother.  “I-I-”  he fumbled for an explanation as above him, the true target of the comment had given Tony something between a sneer and a smirk.  As Thor spoke, he lifted a brow.  “He meant me, Thor.”

Thor paused at that as he looked between the pair.  “I am not a kid.  I am big now, Mother said so.  That is why I may look after Loki.  He is still little.”  he glanced at Loki as he offered his little brother a smile and patted his arm.

Loki’s brow furrowed at that.  More of those comments about looking after him.  The little Thor was behaving like a mother hen and he wasn’t sure what to make of it.  Loki hadn’t let himself reminisce on their childhood in quite some time.  He had focused on their negative history, and then the scepter’s influence had shored that turn of his mind.

Steve finished the pancakes and set them down on the table begrudgingly.

Loki shot him a broad, false smile.  “How very kind, Captain.”

“Yeah, yeah.”  he muttered, wanting to punch the guy in the face.  Thor’s reaction wouldn’t be the only issue, it was the fact that presumably Loki was the only one that knew how to fix Thor, although it seemed unlikely that he would.

Bruce rubbed at his arm uncomfortably as he felt the itch beneath the surface that signified the temptation to change.  He was anxious around Loki, he felt vulnerable, and the more Loki gave his creepy little smiles the more anxious Bruce got.

“Sit here, brother!”  Thor urged eagerly and Loki bit back a sigh as he obliged.  The boy took a fork and knife and began cutting at Loki’s pancakes.

“Thor.”  he didn’t stop Thor because he didn’t actually want the little bread circles anyway.  But he did wonder what Thor was playing at.  “What are you doing?”

“I am cutting it for you, brother.  You know you cannot use knives yet.”  Thor reminded his baby brother.

Loki was a bit astonished by that, and watched a focus Thor cut his little pile of pancakes into many small pieces.

“And then you use this syrup.”  Thor explained as he poured some over the little bread bits.  “You will like it, brother, it is very sweet.”

“Alas, brother, I'm not hungry any more.”  Loki explained with a very direct glance at Steve, to make it clear he was messing with the other man intentionally.

Thor’s expression registered surprise and again disappointment.  “But you need to eat, Loki.”

“I do not want to.”

“Brother.”  Thor adopted a stern tone as he looked up at his little brother with a frown.  “You are still little on the inside.  You need food to grow big and strong like Father!”

Loki sneered instinctively at the mention of ‘Father’ as he pushed the plate away.  “I do not want them.”  he said as he rose from the table.

“Bratty ass-”  Tony started to mutter and Loki’s eyes narrowed on him.

”Perhaps Thor wishes a playmate?”  Loki taunted.  “You are old for a mortal, are you not?”

“Excuse you?”  Tony snapped.

“I would be doing you a favor to restore your youth.”  Loki drawled.

Tony rose and looked ready to murder.  He’d had it up to here at the simple sight of Loki, but seeing the attitude and the smug and the way he treated the little baby Thor just ticked him right off.  Loki was a maniac who’d murdered scores of people cause he had a god-complex and [Tony was increasingly beginning to think] he wanted his brother’s attention.  “I’ll do you a favor, you little-”

“Tony.”  Natasha’s voice was a warning as a frustrated Thor looked between all of them.

Loki was talking so funny and sounding so mean.  He was not listening to Thor or eating as he was supposed to.  And then Tony and Loki seemed to be being mean to each other.  Thor was confused about what they were talking about.

“I mean he’s right.  Guy’s an asshole.”  Darcy muttered.

Jane had rather enough herself and rose as she stalked over to Loki and gave him an angry look that showed no fear as he smirked down at her.  “You’ve had your crappy fun.  Now fix him.”

“I am sure I know not what you mean, sweet Jane.”  Loki said with mocking innocence.

“Don’t call me that.”  she said with a disgusted look.

“Fair Jane?  My brother’s mortal pet-”

Jane slapped him hard across the face, which caused Tony and Natasha to smirk.  Loki looked startled for a split second before he seemed amused.

Thor was not happy.

“No!”  he shouted, his face etched with a frustration and distress.  He pushed between Jane and Loki and frowned up at her as he tried to herd her backwards without hurting her.  “You hit my brother!  You are a bad lady!  I will tell Mother!”  Mother could punish ladies, although Thor could not.   He whirled around to look at Loki as he put worried hands on Loki’s arm and stomach.  “Brother?  Are you well?  Let me see.”  he stood on tip-toe to try to see a little closer.

Thor’s ready defense had Loki smirking right up until Thor was a little bundle of worry and pawing at him as he tried to look at Loki’s face.  He considered pushing Thor away but decided to lean into the opportunity.  Loki put a hand to his face and did his best to look saddened.  “These mortals are not nice, brother…”

Thor’s expression scrunched before he whirled around to glare at the Avengers.  “Any one who tries to hurt my brother will face me!  Nobody may touch Loki other than me.”  he ordered.  “I will tell Father what was done here.”  he warned.

The adults were looking at each other again and Thor did his best to keep his expression strong.  Loki had gotten slapped in the face!  On Thor’s watch!  It was horrible, and he felt so bad…Thor turned to look at Loki as his expression turned apologetic.  “I am sorry, brother.  I will not let it happen any more.”  he assured him.

Loki blinked at that as he eyed the little Thor.  How many times had Thor done  worse than a mere slap?  “Of course.”  he said easily, even as he bit back a bitter reply.  The wretched little oaf.  And now here he was acting as if he was Loki’s personal guard.  The very idea was laughable, Thor, his-

-Now, wait a minute.  Loki pondered the line of thought as he looked at the earnest little creature before him.  A Thor who was young, malleable, seemed to think the world of Loki, and was far from the influence of Asgard and others who would again change Thor from what he’d once been.  What if Loki were the only influence, what if Loki shaped the little Thor as he pleased?  Perhaps in time he might even find a means of binding Thor and Thor’s powers to Loki, not unlike with Mjolnir, and he would have the Thunderer at his beck-and-call.  And although Thor might never remember himself…was it not a perfect revenge to take Thor’s life in such a way and twist it to serve Loki’s purpose?  He could fashion Thor into his own little shadow this time around, as he ever had been made to be Thor’s.

What an idea.

--

The day turned into night as the Avengers tried to get Thor and Loki apart and to plot how to deal with Loki.  The Tower was taken off lock-down, rather a useless measure against Loki anyway, and the Avengers debated their next move.  If Loki chose to take Thor, they might never be able to find and help their friend and as it was they had no idea how to fix him.  Loki seemed to want to linger and gloat, that gave them a little bit of time to try to come up with something else.

Thor and Loki had gone off on their own, and Thor explained what had been ‘explained’ to him that morning.  That the Avengers were great heroes of Midgard, and they were to study them, and Thor had his own room.

Loki listened to the boy chatter with only half-attention paid, his mind was on other things.  Thanos was powerful, probably more so than Thor, but he could help Thor to be stronger.  He could raise Thor into the perfect shield and sword by which to hide and defend against Thanos and the Other.  And of course, wouldn’t that be such a perfect revenge against Odin as well?  For the ‘son of Laufey’ to take the ‘son of Odin’ and bend him to his will?  No longer future king and All-Father, but Loki’s weapon to be used as he saw fit.  And perhaps one day he would find a way to restore Thor’s memories, once he’d truly found a way to bind him, and he’d enjoy the spoils of his planning and Thor’s humbled state.  Thor would drag him back to Asgard to face an executioner’s axe while daring to call him ‘brother’ when it suited him?  Ha!  Loki would do him one better, a far longer-lasting punishment for his would-be brother.

Thor cared not for Loki, that much was clear.  The first words he’d spoken on seeing Loki after supposedly presuming him dead were a demand for the Tesseract.  Thor had said his pretty words about coming home, and looked so raw about it, and oh…Loki had nearly believed it [little that it mattered].  Nearly believed that the Odinson would somehow still care about and think a frost giant foundling his brother despite all that Loki had done, still seek to bring him home.  But no sooner had Loki denied having the Tesseract than Thor had lifted Mjolnir in anger as if to strike him before the Ironman had shoved him off.  Thor had learned to lie, it seemed, to spout false sentiment to get what he wanted.  Perhaps he thought Loki, poor little frost giant Loki, would be grateful and fall headlong for his trap.  But it had never been an option, Thanos had seen to that.

“This is my room.”  Thor said as they reached it, and Loki brought his focus more into the present as he examined Thor’s room.  It was a little messy, but sparsely decorated overall, nearly ‘Spartan’ as the Midgardians might say.

Loki stepped inside and glanced around, and his gaze fell on a discarded pair of vambraces.  He tilted his head as he noticed the engraving…was that his horned helm?  …Why did Thor have a set of vambraces with his helm on them?

“I thought you dead.”

“Did you mourn?”

“We all did.”

Loki frowned as the words echoed in his mind.  Thor’s voice, uncharacteristically emotional, his eyes faintly wet as he gripped Loki by the neck in their old gesture of affection.

“You quit this poisonous dream!  …You come home.”

A lie, a manipulation, an attempt to get the Tesseract through sentiment.  Loki was no fool to fall for it, and he did not care, what did it matter of Odin’s arrogant true-born son deluded himself into thinking he loved Loki ‘Laufeyson’.

He didn’t need the oaf and his reckless ways, and his lack of respect, and his-

“Brother?”  A small hand tugged on Loki’s coat and he was tempted to lash out at Thor, for he was so at any age.  He felt an unbidden flicker of sorcery in his palms and he forced himself to dispel it, Thor did not notice anyway.  “You look sad, Loki.  Is it because of Lady Jane?  Does your cheek still hurt?  I…I cannot reach it when you are so big.”  he seemed troubled by that as he peered up at Loki with open worry.

Lies at any age.  False sentiment.  False brotherhood.  It was a lie before Odin ever revealed the fiction, Thor made that clear enough.

Rage flared in Loki and his fingers twitched.  He did not want Thor dead, he reminded himself, but Gods it would be so easy now…he was helpless, trusting, and at Loki’s mercy.  If Loki but put his hand on that small throat-

“Look around you!  You think this madness will end with your rule?”

“It’s too late…it’s too late to stop it.”

“No.  We can.  Together.”

‘I hate you’ danced on Loki’s lips as his heart felt, not for the first time, like it was clamped in a vise.

Damn Victor.  “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”

Loki didn’t love Thor.  That was sentimental, that was for children, that was all part of the fiction Loki was forced to live.  Odin raised a loyal little sorcerer for his precious son.  He would not play the old man’s game.  Loki had never loved-

Loki sniffed as he burrowed against Thor’s chest.  He had been startled awake by something and could not sleep, the shadows in his room seemed to menace him.  Loki had wandered to Thor’s room and his brother had scooped Loki into his arms.

“Shh.”  Thor murmured as he cuddled his baby brother beneath the blanket and stroked his hair.  “You are safe, Loki.  I have you.”

Loki relaxed against his big brother.  Thor’s arms were the warmest, safest place and always welcomed Loki no matter what.

Childhood sentiment, foolish and unimportant-

“Brother!  Loki!”

Loki groaned against the shouting in his ear.  “Quiet, Thor.”  he mumbled through an oppressive weight on his chest, was that oaf sitting on him?  “Get off me.”  he muttered.

“Loki, please, open your eyes.”

Norns, the oaf sounded desperate.  Loki forced his eyes to crack open, an effort unto itself, and he found himself faced with Thor’s stricken, tear-stained face.  His hand shakily moved towards Thor’s cheek on instinct.  “Brother…what?”  he mumbled.

“You were struck by a troll’s club.  You went limp.  I-”  Thor licked his lips and exhaled as he tried to calm himself.

Loki was regaining a little clarity and found himself memorizing the sight of Thor’s face, miserable and tear-streaked on his behalf.  There were days he wanted to throttle his brother senseless.  But moments like this reminded him that he loved Thor more dearly than anyone.  Fool he was, but he was Loki’s fool, his big brother.  “A mere tap.”  he dismissed weakly and Thor made a sound between a scoff and choked relief as he gently pulled Loki against his chest and held his brother close.

“Do not scare me so again, brother.  I cannot bear it."

“You realize that…only tempts me to do it again?”  Loki teased weakly, and he scrunched his face as Thor pressed a scratchy but not unwelcome kiss to his forehead.  “I am fine, Thor.  Do not worry so.”  he forced out despite the fact it felt rather like the troll’s club was still pressed onto his chest.

“You are my brother, Loki.  I could not stop my worry if I tried.”

“Sentimental oaf.”  Loki murmured fondly.

Thor smiled lightly, the sight of his brother alive and the sound of his snark music to Thor’s ears.

--

That had been only eight months before the coronation that led them here.

Damn.

The Other had made sure no such sentimental memories entered Loki’s mind, reinforced by the scepter later.  And he had not sought them out…but now faced with the little Thor and a potential future where he kept the true Thor from returning…

“I am not sad.”  Loki finally reassured the little Thor, who did not look convinced.  He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he abruptly sat on Thor’s bed and flopped backwards onto it with hands clasped over his stomach.  Thor took the opportunity to quickly join him as he seemed to examine Loki’s face with concern.

“Does it hurt?”  Thor asked as small fingers gently pressed against Loki’s cheek.

Loki tilted away at the contact but kept his voice gentle as he replied.  “No, all well, brother.”  On the one hand, it would be easy enough to keep Thor invested in Loki in the sense that all he had to do was play nice.

But on the other hand, playing nice was exhausting.

And annoying.

Loki studied Thor’s altered appearance, the giant Mighty Thor remade into a child.  He recalled that Thor had mentioned something being wrong when Loki’s spell had taken effect, perhaps he’d felt the theft of his memories impending.  Loki still was not sure why it had happened, or how difficult it would be to reverse…if he ever chose to do so.

He realized the little Thor seemed to be examining more than just his face and frowned.  “What is it?”

Thor blinked before set a hand on the front of Loki’s shoulder and gave it a little press.  “It is strange to see you big, brother.”  he confessed.  “And your hair is funny.”

Loki bristled.  “What do you mean ‘funny’, you uncultured-”  he trailed off from his sudden biting statement as Thor recoiled a little and looked taken aback.  “Why funny?”  he tried again in a calmer tone.

Thor seemed puzzled by something as he eyed Loki with hesitation before he brushed a pair of fingers over Loki’s hair.  “It is flat.  And shiny.  When you are yourself it is soft and curly, remember, Loki?”  Loki really was acting strange, and it had been bothering Thor the whole time but he could only guess it was to do with the spell Mother wanted Loki to hold.  Maybe it wasn’t very nice to hope for, but he hoped Loki’s spell would break soon.  Thor wanted his brother to be himself again.

Loki hadn’t worn his hair that way in centuries.  Trust even the little Thor to find some aspect of Loki to pick apart, he noted bitterly.  “I like it better this way.”

Thor scrunched his nose and Loki narrowed his eyes, and the little Thor did not comment other to toy with the collar of Loki’s jacket.  Loki resisted the urge again to bat him away.  Why was Thor so insistent on touching him?  Thor looked Loki over again as he said thoughtfully.  “You do look nice, brother.”

“Oh?  Only my hair is funny?”  Loki asked dryly.

“Mm, yes.”  Thor said decidedly and Loki fought the urge to scowl.

“Well I think your hair is funny.”  Loki retorted.

Thor seemed surprised as his hand went to his hair.  “It keeps getting in my eyes.”  he admitted.

Loki did roll his eyes at that as he conjured a hair-tie.  “Then pull it back.”  Little fool.

Thor took the offered hair-tie and considered it before he made a clumsy attempt to tie his hair at the back.

Loki watched the failure for a few seconds before he sat up and snatched the hair-tie just to have done with the matter.  “Here.”  he muttered as he whirled the little Thor around abruptly and scooped his hair into his hand before he tied it at the nape of Thor’s neck in a tiny tail.

Thor beamed like he’d just received a great gift.  “Thank you, brother.”

Well, that is one thing the little Thor does differently.  When was the last time Thor had earnestly thanked him for something, or acknowledged Loki’s help at all?  “Mm.”  he made a non-committal noise in reply as he realized he was exceptionally bored.  With Thor out of his mind, he was no fun to torment, and the Avengers weren’t around at the moment…a future of being stuck with the grabby, chatty little Thor suddenly seemed daunting even if it was in the service of raising his own little godly body-guard.

Loki also had a moment to take note of just how small Thor had become in comparison to him as he tied Thor’s hair back.  Gone was the broad-shouldered, thick-chested Thor.  The little Thor was a tiny thing by comparison.  Thor yawned and Loki mentally reviewed his options before he sat up.  “It seems to be your sleeping hour, brother.”  he said, easily able to slip back into using the once-common endearment in the interest of influencing and completely winning over the little Thor.

“Our sleeping hour, Loki.”  Thor advised with a wry smile like he thought Loki was pulling mischief.  “Even if you look bigger, you must sleep.”

Thor was bossy at any age, clearly, and Loki was tempted to teleport away for the night.  But he doubted it would be worth the headache Thor would give him on his return.

Thor crawled to the other side of the bed and squished out the pillows before he patted the one next to his.  “I will tuck you in, brother."

Loki stilled at that and eyed the patiently waiting little Thor, uncomfortable with the shift in dynamic.  He knew how to handle the adult Thor, he knew what to expect, it was what he was primed for.  The behavior of this little Thor, wherein he thought Loki a child as well to be taken care of was…different.  “You do not need to.”  he said dismissively.

Thor looked a little confused by the statement but then smiled like Loki was making a joke.  “I want to, Loki.”  Perhaps his little brother thought that since he was bigger at the moment, Thor would not want to?

Thoughts raced through Loki’s mind but eventually he capitulated and lay down as Thor promptly snuggled Loki into the covers and pressed on the pillow a bit as if to ensure it was properly under Loki’s head.

Thor sat with his knee touching Loki’s shoulder as he looked down at his brother.  “It is hard to hold you when you are so big, brother.  But I will be right here.”  he promised.  Thor leaned down and Loki tensed, only to receive a soft kiss on his forehead and a half-hug as Thor cupped his arm somewhat around Loki’s neck and pressed his palm to Loki’s cheek.  “I love you, Loki, rest well.”

Loki was tempted to meet the actions with derision, but his heart clenched uncomfortably in his chest as some long-buried part of him stirred at the once-familiar behavior.  “Good night.” he made himself mutter out, and he got another strange look from the little Thor who slipped under the covers and lay on his own pillow.

A small hand found Loki’s as Thor entwined their fingers and Loki frowned.

“I can still hold your hand, brother.”  Thor informed him warmly.  “You are safe.  I will not let the mortals be mean to you again.”

Loki stared at the warm blue eyes that promised much.  “You would fight them for me?”

Thor nodded gravely.  “Father will understand…I will not let anyone hurt you, Loki.”  he lifted their entwined hands and pressed his lips against the back of Loki’s hand.

Thor was already in line to fight the mortals on Loki’s behalf.  His work seemed half-done, and that was a relief because the little Thor was grating on him.  A bundle of touchy-feely sentiments that Loki knew perfectly well were impermanent.  This little boy had been a man who was willing to relegate Loki to his shadow, and drag Loki home in chains to be executed by that mad tactician Odin.  Thor’s current state was his comeuppance, no less than he deserved.

“Thank you, Thor.”  he replied, and the boy seemed pleased.  Easy enough to manipulate, even more so than his older self.

Sleep would not come for awhile after, and he extricated his hand from Thor’s as soon as the boy was asleep.  Eventually he too drifted off, content in the knowledge that he had stumbled onto a far better plan than expected.

--

Loki’s bones ached and ground against each other as the Other wielded an unfamiliar power against him.  He writhed on the floor in agony.  It was so hot.  He was left raw, a bundle of instincts and mostly incoherent thoughts.  Mother.  Brother.  Where?  Please…sorry.  Perhaps the Other knew, because he redoubled his efforts and Loki heard a scream that he only vaguely realized was his own.

“Brother!  Brother, wake up!”

Loki came awake with a gasp as his hand shot out and gripped the throat of the person daring to be near him as he was asleep.

Shocked blue eyes greeted him as small fingers tried to pull Loki’s hand from his throat.

Loki released Thor as though burned and Thor inhaled with a cough.  “What are you doing?”  he demanded, and he was a bit satisfied when Thor flinched.

“You…you were having a nightmare, Loki.  You…yelled loudly.”  Thor looked concerned as he grabbed Loki’s upper arm and gave it a squeeze.  He brought his other hand to Loki’s hair and petted with the smoothness.

Loki swallowed hard against the memories, against Thor-any Thor-seeing him vulnerable or having any idea about that time.  “I am fine.” he growled as he pushed Thor’s hand away.  “Thor, have you not been told it is rude to touch another without their permission?”

Confusion and hurt crossed Thor’s expression.  “…You are my little brother.”

The crux of the issue was the same at any age, Thor felt entitled to Loki because of their relationship.  A relationship that did not even exist, not truly.  “So you may do whatever you like with me?  Is that it?”  Loki asked coolly.

Thor’s hands pulled away from Loki as he stared at his little brother with an openly troubled expression.  “I…”  he had never been questioned on giving affection to others before, least of all Loki.  He always took care of Loki and comforted him.  Big Loki was so different, he wanted little Loki back.  “You are…different.”  he mumbled.  “I do not like this spell.”

“You do not like being told you cannot do as you please.”  Loki corrected harshly, and he saw Thor stiffen as though he’d hurt him physically.  He saw Thor’s lip quiver slightly and a mist entered his eyes.

“I love you, brother.”  Thor finally mumbled.  “I wish to take care of you.  I did not…mean to make you…angry.”  Loki had been grumpy before, they had fought a little bit before, but they always hugged after.  This was different, Loki sounded so…so mean.

Loki’s lips quirked into a mocking, resentment-laden smile.  “Indeed, you have wanted to care for me all our lives.  Even at the cost of mine.”  Thor did not seem to understand the statement, though the tone clearly upset him further.   He was Odin’s puppet, but that was fine, because now he would be Loki’s.

--

“It was me, Father.”  Thor said suddenly, and a young Loki looked over at him in surprise.

Loki had pulled a prank that went too far, someone had nearly gotten hurt and Odin had pulled both boys into his study for a dressing-down.  In fact, Thor had not even been a part of this particular prank, but he’d garnered enough details from what Odin was angry about.

Odin gave Thor a sharp look.  “A lie is no less a lie for intent.  Look me in the eye and say again you did it, Thor.”

Thor felt his stomach drop.  Lie to Father, or try to protect Loki?  His brother had done the deed but…the sight of Loki looking so stricken and slumped…he knew Loki had not meant it to go so far.  Thor was accustomed to shielding Loki, even from himself, so he doubled down.  “I did, Father.  I did not mean it to go so far.  I apologize.”

Odin’s expression grew dark and Thor felt seen through.  “Think not that you fool me, boy.  But fine.  You may both be punished for the deed, less for the sharing of it.  We will speak of this later.  Now go.”

The boys quickly left and Thor’s hand found its way into Loki’s as he pulled his little brother along.

Loki’s eyes burned, upset both at the dressing down and that Thor had gotten into trouble because of him.  “You always do that!”  he raised his voice as they entered Thor’s room.  “You even lied to Father!”  his lip trembled and a few tears snaked down his cheeks.  Loki tried to rub them away but the motion was stopped as Thor crushed him in a tight embrace.  The younger Odinson gave in immediately as he squeezed his big brother back and buried his face in Thor’s chest.  “I did not mean to hurt anyone.  It was only a prank, brother.  It was an accident.”  he sniffed.

“I know, brother.”  Thor soothed as he finally spoke and rested his lips on Loki’s head a moment before he pressed his cheek there instead.  He held his little brother tightly and stroked his back.  “It was an accident, I know you did not mean it.”  he reassured him.

“Stop saying you did things that I did…I…I will take responsibility…”

“You are my little brother.  Your responsibilities are mine too.  I will always share your troubles, Loki.  That is what big brothers are for.”

“Is not.”  Loki mumbled against Thor’s chest.  “Others think little brothers are annoying.”

Thor chuckled against Loki’s head and Loki sniffed again.  “Even if you are annoying sometimes-”

“-Hey.”  Loki complained lightly.

“You are my brother and I love you, Loki.  Our burdens will be lighter if we share them.”

Sometimes his brother was such a fool, but sometimes he sounded so wise.  “You do not let me share yours.  You try to do everything yourself.  I want to help you too, Thor…you big dummy.”

“What did you call me?”  Thor growled playfully as he clamped a hand into Loki’s side.  The latter squirmed with a surprised noise, and Thor settled after that.  “I can take care of us both, Loki.  You need not worry.”

“But I want to!”

“You want to worry?”  Thor asked in a put-on tone of confusion as he deliberately misunderstood.

Loki huffed against his chest and tried to pull away but Thor squeezed him and lifted him off the ground in a spinning hug that stuck his shoulders to his sides.

“T-Thor!”  he whined.

“L-Loki!”  Thor mocked playfully and Loki exhaled through his nose irritably.

Thor set Loki down and his arm was smacked by his little brother as he was released.  He grinned down at Loki before his mouth curved into a fond smile and he cupped Loki’s neck in their gesture of affection as he pulled their foreheads together.  “There.  You look better now.”

Loki pouted as he realized Thor had been trying to cheer him up through riling him a bit.  “Oaf.”

“I have told you not to call me that.”  Thor groused, still thinking he could dissuade Loki from the term, not realizing it would be a life-long ‘endearment’.  [And insult].

“ Oaf .”  Loki repeated stubbornly as he met his brother’s gaze.  “Perhaps if you stop being one I will stop calling you one.”

Thor’s eyes narrowed as he held up his hands with the fingers curved towards his palm in a threat of tickling that made Loki dart backwards even as Thor lunged forwards.

“Brother, no!”  Loki said sternly, then yelped as Thor almost got him.  He leapt onto Thor’s bed and darted to the other side as he ran for the other room.

--

The sudden memory made Loki’s lip curl.  Was the little Thor bringing these memories up?  Why was he being bothered with them now?  That Thor was long gone, as was the boy who foolishly looked up to him.  There was nothing of those boys between them, and Loki had been false from the start.  A fictional brother for the Golden Prince of Asgard.

He blinked as he realized the little Thor had wet eyes and fidgeted as one upset with no outlet.  “I-I am sorry I did not stop Lady Jane in time.”  That must be what Loki was angry about.  “I did not mean to let her.”  The well of tears in Thor’s eyes slid down his cheeks and Loki felt a flicker of annoyance.  Would he have to comfort Thor now?

The warriors in the training yard had laughed at Loki, it mattered not that he was a prince, they all thought the same thing.  He was weak, and a sorcerer, and who would punish them for it?  Loki tried so hard to fit in, to win his father’s approval, to be Thor’s equal, and what did it ever get him but disappointment?   He had retreated into the woods to a spot he favored and the sound of footsteps made him tense.  When he realized it was Thor, he had mixed feelings.  Thor gave him the most comfort and the greatest misery.  He quickly wiped at his eyes and tried to sound imperious.  “I do not wish for company.”

“I am not company, I am your brother.”  Thor replied, like that was all the explanation and invitation needed as he plopped himself down next to Loki before he could object.  A heavy, warm arm found Loki’s shoulders as he was pulled against Thor.

Loki was half-tempted to stab his brother and half-tempted to sob.  He was so tired, so exhausted, so drained…Thor was a rock of strength and familiarity.  “How did you find me?”  he muttered.

“I know where you hide, brother.”  And Loki bristled at ‘hide’.  “A servant told me you seemed distressed.”

“What servant?”  Loki demanded.  He would teach them to gossip.

“Leave it, Loki.”  Thor said with a sigh as he brought his hand to Loki’s face and brushed away his tears with laughable gentleness coming from The Mighty Thor.  “What happened?”

“Nothing that has not happened before.”

“No riddles, Loki.”

Loki’s lip curled, hidden by the downward turn of his face.  “I do not know if you think a riddle for lack of wit or lack of observational skill-”  he felt the arm tighten around him abruptly.

“I came to offer comfort, not a fight, Loki.”  Thor growled.

“And I told you I wanted no company!”

“You would have me leave you here to weep alone?”

Loki sat up with a snarl.  “I am not weeping .”

“Oh, is it raining?  I had not noticed.”  Thor said with rare sarcasm as he held up his palm skyward in mock-wonder.

Loki narrowed his eyes and punched his brother in the side lightly.

Thor’s gaze slid back to his brother as he brushed his palm against a tear streak.  “If someone has troubled you, I will-”

“I need not for you to fight my battles, Thor.”  Loki growled in turn.

“Your battles are my battles, brother.”  Thor replied.

Loki was baffled at times by Thor’s easy sincerity in these matters, even as they bordered hypocrisy with how dreadful Thor’s own behavior to him could be.  Was he so oblivious?  The worst part was that Thor was genuine in that belief, not realizing how many battles his dismissiveness caused for Loki or how many battles Thor started between them.  “You vex me greatly, brother.”  he finally said, to stave off a cruel reply or too open of one.

Thor grinned like he’d been paid a compliment as he clasped Loki’s neck and gave it an affectionate squeeze.  “Come, take a meal with me, you have not eaten yet.”  Loki had no idea how Thor knew that.  He was equally baffled by little things like this, where Thor still played mother hen over such odd things.  “I cannot leave you out here in the rain.”  Thor said in such an earnest tone despite the teasing nature that Loki’s lips twitched.

“I should throw you in the pond.”  Loki muttered as Thor rose and offered him a hand up.

“Only if you are prepared for me to take you in with me, brother.”  Thor’s grin broadened.

Loki felt the miserable cloud that had been hanging over him dissipate in the face of his brother’s sunny warmth.  Moments like these were what made it impossible to truly hate his brother.  Thor, for all of his foolishness and obliviousness, was the only one who would come for Loki and offer him this love.  Save Mother, and in their own ways Father and Heimdall, Thor alone truly cared for Loki.  That made his resentment all the more frustrating.  The person he was most envious of and most competitive with, who was Loki’s rival for the things he desired most, was also his brother and best friend.

Maddening oaf.

--

The abruptness and quality of the memories he was experiencing gave him sudden pause.  The spell had gone wrong in regards to Thor’s memories…had it had some backlash of effect on Loki’s own?  Absently he brushed the back of his hand under Thor’s eyes to clear away the tears, surprised when Thor’s hand took Loki’s as Thor pressed his cheek against it.

“Please do not be angry with me, Loki…I am sorry…”  Thor sniffed, and painted for all the world a picture of a terribly sad little boy hungry for reassurance.

Loki had been such himself once.  Thor helped make him so.

But Thor too was the one that comforted him, never turned from him, and embraced Loki with warm, open arms.  A trusting fool to the end.

One who would take Loki back to Asgard heedless of the fate that awaited him.

Loki’s battles were Thor’s no longer.

Loki inhaled deeply as he shook his hand free of Thor and put his hand on Thor’s head as he forced him asleep with sorcery.  Thor’s wet eyes fluttered closed and as he tilted, Loki guided his head to the pillow.  He stared at the small, sleeping form.  The Mighty Thor, a child again because Loki willed it.  Loki, who would likely never have met Thor if not for Odin’s meddling.  He had as good as done this to his own son by bringing Loki into his house.  Loki would repay a fiction with a fiction, a twisted fate with a twisted fate.  Thor would not be the golden prince and hero, he would be a frost giant’s…whatever Loki saw fit to make of him.

Loki’s hand found its way to Thor’s head where he tucked a stray bit of hair behind his ear.  Thor deserved this, it was justice, it was revenge, it was his due…Thor who had everything just because he’d been born to their parents-to Odin and Frigga-in truth.   Thor who pretended he thought a frost giant his brother, pretended he would, did, and could love Loki despite who and what he was, and what he had done.  Loki may be the Liesmith, but Thor lied with a self-delusional ferocity that put Loki’s talents to shame.  Thor might even believe his own lies.  Loki’s hand slid to Thor’s throat again, gentle fingers felt the throb of his pulse.

When Loki eventually fell asleep beside Thor [he was hardly going to sleep on the floor], he did not dream of Thanos.  He dreamed of falling from the Bifrost.  But he dreamed it from Thor’s angle as he shouted ‘Loki, no!’ and felt such a wave of misery that it choked him.

He was seeing Frigga then as she embraced him-Thor-.  “How could you not tell us?”  Loki’s mouth said with Thor’s voice.

“We did not want him to feel different, that he was any less loved.”  Frigga said softly as she looked her eldest son over.  “Do you love him less?”

“Of course not!”  Thor exclaimed.  “Loki is my brother, there is no force that could change that.”

“’Is’…then you still have hope that he lives?”

“I will not give up looking.”  Thor said resolutely.  “I care not for what Father said.  I will not stop until I know, one way or the other.”

“...Have you forgiven him?”

“For what?”

“Well…what happened on Midgard for a start.  You died as a mortal at Loki’s hand.”

“At the Destroyer’s hand.”  Thor corrected.

“On his order.”

Thor’s brow furrowed.  “Would you have me be angry?  Who do you ask this of me?”

“I want to be sure that if we find your brother…you are not clouded by darker thoughts.”

“He is my brother.”  Thor said firmly.  “Once he is safe, we can worry about the rest.  I would forgive much to have Loki home again.”

Frigga smiled sadly as she stroked her son’s cheek.  “I hope with all my heart such a day comes.”

--

Loki awoke with a start and found a warmth at his side.  He tilted his chin down to see that at some point during the night, Thor had flopped against him and Loki’s arm found its way around him.

He had dreamed so vividly…and he had dreamed from Thor’s perspective…was it a memory?   What did it mean?

Thor stirred as Loki shifted and blinked sleepy eyes at his brother before they widened in alarm.  He jerked back so quickly he tilted and fell off the bed with a thump.

Loki, incredulous, leaned over the side of the bed to see the little Thor grimacing before he looked up at Loki and said sheepishly.  “I forgot you were big, brother."

Loki’s lips twitched as a familiar amusement curled up inside of him.  But then he realized it for what it was and pushed it aside as he watched Thor rise and slip back onto the bed.   There was no camaraderie between them anymore, and it had all been part of the fiction, part of the lie Odin had forced on him.

Thor opened his mouth to speak before something behind Loki seemed to catch his attention as his eyes widened in nothing short of horror.

A little alarmed, Loki turned but saw nothing, and he felt Thor’s hand on his wrist as he tugged at him.

“Loki!  Get away from it!   Brother, come here!”  Thor exclaimed urgently, and indeed, looked rather agitated.

“Get away from what?”  he snapped as he took his wrist back.  Thor looked bereft, like the reaction wounded him.

“Brother, there is a spider.”  Thor said in a hushed whisper, as if the spider might be alerted that they were onto it.

Loki was momentarily so taken aback that he gaped a little and stared.  He recalled that long ago Thor had feared spiders, and that as a man he did not like them.  Loki glanced back at the nightstand and looked carefully, and sure enough a fat little spider was resting on the lamp shade.  Memories flitted in and out of his mind, memories of catching spiders to ‘save’ his big brother, memories of teasing his brother with them.  He was half-tempted to put the spider on his palm and force it near Thor to watch the boy’s fright.

“Loki!  It will bite you!”  Thor said urgently.  “Brother, please, come here!”

“Not all spiders bite, Thor.”  Loki said as he settled for putting his hand towards the spider.  He stopped, surprised, when Thor hurled something next to him at the lamp and it clattered to the ground in a shattered mess.  Loki looked back at Thor, who looked a little flushed.  “Was that necessary?”

“Loki.”  Thor managed to sound extraordinarily exasperated for a child.  “That was dangerous!  Mother told you to listen to me!”

Loki restrained from sneering, just barely.  “It was only a spider, Thor.  Calm yourself.”

There was a knock at Thor’s door that caused them both to pause, and Loki tensed even as he ‘cheerily’ called out.  “Yes?”

There was a pause from the other end and then it was Jane speaking.  “I’d like to speak with you.”  she said, in a tone that suggested she’d rather hit him again.

Loki smiled coyly, messing with Thor’s mortal woman held its own charms.  “Oh, but I am not sure I would like to speak with you…and I do not think my brother would like it.”  he drawled.

“I don’t know why he bothers.”  Jane muttered to herself, thinking Loki couldn’t hear, unaware of how strong a Jotun’s hearing was even with the Aesir glamour.

“You do not have to speak with her, Loki.”  Thor advised.  “I will tell her to go away-”

“-No, no.  I…should.  Wait here a moment, brother.”

“But-”

“A moment, Thor.”  Loki said as he teleported outside the door, he hoped it might confuse Thor enough to settle him for said moment.  “If you are of a mind to strike me again,” he said, and Jane whirled around, “Know that I will not be so lenient this time.”  he said, with a sly smile.

Jane looked him over with a disgusted expression that irritated Loki, though he let none of it show.  “What do you want?  Why are you doing this?”

“Are you…truly asking that?”  Loki was genuinely a bit puzzled.  “Did Thor tell you nothing?”

“You made him a kid and took his memories, and now you’re what, just here to rub it in?  What are you really after?”  she asked as she ignored his questions.

“I fail to see why I should tell you of my plans, sweet Jane.”  he said, just to irk her.

Jane narrowed her eyes.  “You’re an ass, you know that?  Thor loves you, and all you do is-”

Loki cut her off with a scoff and a biting laugh.  “What?  Wherever did you come by that idea?”

Jane scowled.  “Come off it.”  Loki wasn’t sure what she meant by that phrase but let it pass.  “You know he does, you use it against him, you slimy-”

“-Lady Jane.”  Loki cut her off as his tone turned a little more icy.  “Are you aware of what Thor intended had he caught me?”

“Yeah.  Justice.  For all the people you killed because you wanted to play king.”

“I am a king.”  Loki snarled and Jane looked distinctly unimpressed.  “If you truly think it love that Thor would drag me back to Asgard for my execution, you should worry about what he will do to you in time.  Do not think for a moment Odin would allow a mortal for a queen.”  he expected the barb to land sharply, but was surprised when Jane looked confused.  “Oh, dear, did Thor not tell you he was expected to wed-”

“-Execution?”

Loki’s brow furrowed just slightly.  “What?  He did not tell you of that either?  Does he trust you so little, or is it that you speak little in each other’s company?” he queried lewdly.

Jane seemed to be trying to decide if Loki was speaking truthfully.  “Thor said he was taking you to Asgard to be imprisoned.”

“Ha!”  Loki chuckled at her naivety.  “He lied then.  The All-Father is not known for his mercy, I assure you.  I am for the axe if I were return to Asgard, as well Thor knows.”

”He doesn’t.”  Jane said firmly.  “If he thought that was the case he wouldn’t take you back.”  she said with certainty.

Loki rolled his eyes at yet another of Thor’s sycophants trying to tell him what the reality of the situation was.  “Thor does whatever our-…the All-Father orders.  And if he orders me back to die, Thor will follow like the good little boy he is.”

“You almost called him ‘father’.”  Jane said smugly as she crossed her arms, not missing the slip.  “You still think of Thor as your brother.”

“Do not presume to know me, mortal.”  Loki said coldly.

“You have no idea how sad he was when he thought you were dead.  And then you come back and just keep breaking his heart more.  I have no idea why he even still cares about you, but he does.  Thor is loyal and loving and good.  Unlike you.”

Another day, another so-and-so putting Thor on a pedestal and belittling Loki on his behalf.  “You think you know Thor, you know nothing.  Your petty time together has nothing on the centuries I have spent with him.  I know how truly unworthy he is.”

“You don’t know him as well as you think if you honestly think he would bring you home just to watch you die.”  Jane said bluntly.

“A fool for a fool, I see what he sees in you.  Like attracts like, as they say.”  Loki mocked.

“He told me you get defensive when someone gets honest.  Insulting me doesn’t make me stop being right.”  Jane informed him.

“You are determined to let him mislead you.”  Loki replied.

“And you are determined to make him the bad guy.  Which is funny, not only cause you’re the bad guy…but as far as I can tell, he’s the only person besides your mother who still gives a crap about you.”

“Do not speak of my mother.”  Loki snarled as he stepped closer, only for his expression to darken as she looked smug again and he realized what he said.  He prepared to give a cutting retort but she beat him to speaking.

“If what you say is true, Thor didn’t know.”  she said confidently.  “I watched him beat himself up over what he thought happened to you.  Thinking it was his fault.”

“It was.”  Loki snapped.

“Maybe.  Maybe not.  But whatever you think of him, he still calls you his ‘brother’.   Yeah, he wants to bring you to Asgard to face justice, but he also just wants to bring you home.”  Jane didn’t want to offer comfort to Loki or render Thor more vulnerable by having Loki know his feelings…but on the other hand, Thor was in danger and even if the Avengers caught Loki it wasn’t a guarantee Thor would be fixed.  If Loki was under the delusion that Thor intended to bring him to Asgard for execution…maybe dissuading him of that would help Thor overall.

“You quit this poisonous dream!  You come home!”

Loki’s mind was not what it had been under the influence of the scepter and fresh from torment from the Other.  Nor was it what it had been during the period he’d been king, or even before the coronation.  Loki was still healing, still putting the fractured pieces of his mind back together.  But he had far more rationality.  Enough that Jane’s words reached him, infected him with a bit of doubt.

What if Thor, foolish as he was, truly thought he was only bringing Loki back to imprisonment in ‘their home’.  He supposed Odin wouldn’t have outright said ‘bring Loki here so that I may execute him’.  Perhaps Thor filled in the blanks himself, believed Odin would give Loki the punishment that would apparently be Thor’s choice.  Perhaps also on Frigga’s behalf.

Loki’s rage had been a wildfire when he’d been out of his mind from the outer influences, constantly stoked by the scepter and the Other to the exclusion of nearly all else.  It had lessened to a bonfire during his time with Victor healing.  A bonfire he’d kept stoked partially on the knowledge that Thor spouted his sentiments and all the while planned to drag Loki back to Asgard to die.  It was farce enough that Thor acted as if Loki’s parentage and race meant nothing, that he loved and thought Loki his brother still…but to do so while intending to deliver him to his death…it made it clear Thor either lied, or his love of Loki was such a petty, unimportant thing he would let Loki die.

And it had, in its own twisted way, been a comfort.

Because if Thor were truly his loyal, loving big brother…if Thor cared not for Loki being the son of Laufey and a frost giant…if Thor still sought to claim Loki as his brother despite all that Loki had done [killed him, according to the dream, which he still had not parsed out]…then Thor was…well, not only not the man Loki had imagined him to be.  But he was in some ways one of the few worthwhile things Loki had left.

Loki remembered Thor’s face as he’d fallen from the Bifrost.  Thor was a simple man.  Even he could not be unmoved by the sight of a man he’d known for so long to be his brother falling to such a cold, lonely death.  That was what Loki had seen it as at the time.  With a twisted mind, Loki had remembered it as Thor callously throwing Loki out to die.

But now?  Now he had to wonder…what if Thor had mourned him.   What if he…what if he still had not given up on Loki?  On their brotherhood?

It was madness.  Utter madness.  Thor had wanted to slay all of the frost giants all of their lives.  Loki was the son of Laufey, for Norns’ sake!  He had killed mortals, threatened those precious to Thor, made if not succeeded at several attempts on Thor’s life…it would be madness if Thor still thought there was anything but enmity between them.

But, mad as it was…what if Thor did?

What would that mean to Loki?  Would it matter at all?

“You have always been my brother, only you have ever said otherwise.  Loki, something is wrong.”

There was a ring of truth to that.

“I am not your brother!  I never was!”

Loki’s words, not Thor’s.

“ Your  father.  He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?”

“We were raised together.  We played together.  We fought together.  Do you remember none of that?”

Thor had been hurt and furious, but in his own way…he had responded with sentiment, hadn’t he?  Loki made to confirm that Thor knew the truth and Thor’s reply was to speak of their brotherhood.

But it was only because he wanted the Tesseract, wasn’t it?

Thor had raised Mjolnir angrily when Loki denied him the Tesseract, right after his pretty words about wanting Loki to come home-

“You listen well, brother-”

Thor had been furious, and fury loosened the tongue, it brought the truth to light.  And in his moment of fury with Mjolnir in hand…he had called Loki ‘brother’.

Cracks formed in the hard shell formed around Loki after he’d learned the truth of his parentage, one that had been prodigiously solidified under the Other’s ministrations.

--

Thor sat with his back to a tree and his eyes closed, a gentle rain fell over Asgard.  He had made a mistake in a diplomatic dinner, apparently a great faux pas, and nearly cost them an alliance with a famous and well-respected guild leader responsible for most of the clothes made for Asgard.  Odin had flayed him with words before the eyes of Frigga and Loki.  On the other hand, it was Loki who had managed to salvage Thor’s mistake and smooth the situation over.  Thor had no sooner been flayed by Odin than heard Odin sing a rare bout of hefty praises for Loki and his competence.

When Thor had been excused he’d all but fled the palace with Mjolnir, to a lakeside where he, Loki, and the Warriors Four had visited many times.

He was a disappoint to Odin and to himself, and again it was Loki who’d come to his rescue.  It put mixed feelings in him.  Thor, on one hand, felt such pride and pleasure at his little brother’s accomplishments.  But these days it felt so often that Loki’s achievements came at cost to Thor’s standing and Odin’s approval in him.  Sometimes he was sure Loki set up scenarios just to come out on top of Thor and it infuriated him, he did not understand it.

Loki’s guilt gnawed at his belly as he searched for his brother.  He had oh-so-cleverly manipulated Thor into making a mistake.  Thor would never realize Loki had led him to it.  And it had, in some ways, gone spectacularly well in that Thor made an utter mess that Loki was ready to skillfully clean up.  But it had been quite a mess, and Odin had torn into Thor with words so harshly that Loki winced.  Loki found satisfaction in seeing Thor be humbled these days, but he did not like to see his brother in pain.  Thor had looked almost…defeated when he’d been excused.  And Odin singing Loki’s praises in front of Thor was not satisfying when instead of envious or competitive, Thor seemed only beaten down by the weight of Odin’s disappointment.

Loki had not meant to hurt Thor like that, over his own petty ‘prank’.

He found himself drizzled on until he finally found Thor who had his eyes closed and his back against a tree.  There was a laxness to his posture, a sad slant to his lips, that seemed out of place on his brother.  Loki had as good as put it there.  “Brother.”  he said gently.

Thor’s eyes cracked open as he frowned tightly before he sighed.  “I cannot stop the rain, if that is what you are here to ask.  I did not mean it to start."

Loki wasn’t sure if he was offended or a little hurt that Thor assumed that was why he’d come.  He moved to stand in front of Thor as he looked down at him.  Loki would not confess what he’d done, and certainly would not apologize, but he could cheer Thor up at least.  “How are you?” he asked, instead of replying to the rain bit.

Thor’s lips twisted as if pained before he shrugged.  “Merely enjoying the fresh air.”

Loki glanced pointedly at the dark-cloud sky and then looked to his brother as he arched a brow.  “You insult us both with such silly lies.”

Anger flitted across Thor’s expression.  “Enough, Loki.  I am not in the mood.  Go enjoy your success.”

Bitterness danced in Loki as he couldn’t help but reply.  “Does it bother you so much that I was praised?  An achievement is only good if you have done it?”

Thor fought against his irritation as Loki managed to somehow make this about him.  “Of course not!”  he snapped.

Loki snorted and looked away, and it was silent between the brothers a moment.

Thor sighed heavily and rubbed at his face.  “You know how it feels to be at the end of Father’s tongue lashing, Loki.  My…mood does not lie with you.  I was not thinking of your praise but of my…failure.”  he admitted the last bit quietly, barely audible.

And Loki knew it took much for Thor to even admit that, and that it was likely only Loki would get to hear such a thing.  Even with the Warriors Four, there were certain things that were for Loki alone.  Loki instigated situations that broke his brother apart a little bit, and then rushed to help put Thor back together.

Still…Thor’s quiet admission and his talk of ‘failure’ restored the gnawing feeling as he crouched down in front of the brother whose mood very much did lie unwittingly with Loki.

Loki tilted his head and waited until Thor met his gaze.  “In truth, the guild master made such a great stink about such a small thing.  Any other, and it would have been a negligible mistake, brother.”

“Father seemed not to think so.”  Thor muttered.

“He was embarrassed by the incident.  And he is Father, you know how he is.”

Thor rested his arms on his knees as he cocked his legs up.  “I tried to do well, I really did, Loki.  I am just…”

Loki was curious for the end of the sentence.  It was so rare to hear anything resembling self-doubt or self-deprecation from the thunder god.  “Yes?”  he tried to encourage.

Thor shook his head with a light shrug.  “It matters not.”

Loki could not press further on the point and so proceeded.  “You did quite well, save that mistake.  Truly, Thor, I could see the effort you put in.”

Something like gratitude mingled with fondness in Thor’s face.  Loki pushed aside a sliver of resentment at having to comfort the effort Thor put in given how little mind he paid to the many efforts Loki put into so many things.  “All of this buttering me up will not stop the rains, brother.”  he teased.

Loki grinned a bit and then feigned disappointment.  “Ugh, why did I even bother?”  he drawled, pleased when Thor smiled.  He set his arms on Thor’s knees above his hand and rested his chin on his hands as he eyed his brother.  “Since we are here already, shall we go for a swim?”

Thor blinked incredulously.  “Right now?”

“Why not?”  Loki shrugged.  “We are wet already.”

Thor seemed to considered that and then laughed a little before he squirmed his hands free of being under Loki’s arms, and set them on Loki’s forearms instead as he gaze them an affectionate squeeze.  “I am glad you are here, brother.”

“What?  In the woods getting rained on?”   Loki asked innocently.

“Aye, exactly that.”  Thor rolled his eyes before he rose, and pulled Loki up with him.

Loki slipped an arm across Thor’s back as he grabbed his brother’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze this time.  And Thor slipped an arm around Loki’s neck in turn as he let his palm rest on Loki’s chest.  “You would be rather lost without me.”  Loki mused.

“Without my favorite little brother?  Probably.”  Thor conceded.

“Only brother.”  Loki corrected dryly.

Thor grinned down at him as he clenched his arm about Loki a bit.  “So you may be reasonably confident that you are my favorite.”

“Reasonably.”  Loki snorted as the pair headed towards the lake.

--

“Even if what you say is true, it makes no difference.  I wished Thor ill long before he sought to drag me back to Asgard.”  Loki drawled.

“It should make a difference.  Because if anything happens to Thor, you really will be alone.  He’s your only brother.”

“Did he not tell you we share no blood?”

Jane seriously wanted to throw the guy out the window.  She forced herself to remain calm…ish.   “It’s Thor, he doesn’t care.  You were just bragging to me about how long you two have been together.  You think he sees it differently?  God, if you really believe that…”  she scoffed lightly.  “I could almost feel sorry for you.  It would suck constantly thinking the people that loved me, didn’t.”

There was a loud clattering in the room and Jane surged forward in alarm as she entered.  It took a second to gauge the scene but she realized a book shelf had fallen from the wall and part of it fell on the bed.  Thor’s legs were stuck against the side of the bed under it.  “Thor!”  she quickly went over to start to try to pry it off him, but was beaten to the punch as Loki came up alongside of her and easily lifted it off Thor who sank to the floor with a stunned look.

“It was an accident…”  he said as he clutched his arms around his legs and sat like a small ball against the side of the bed.

Jane knelt by Thor on one side, and to her surprise, Loki knelt on the other as he looked Thor over.

“Are you hurt, brother?”  Loki asked.

Thor shook his head and seemed shaken more than anything.  “Are you okay?”  he asked Loki with a pointed glance at Jane, whose brows lifted in surprise.

Jane’s words, annoyingly, echoed in Loki’s mind.  Was he believing that the people who loved him did not?  Was he leaving himself vulnerable to being truly alone?  He had been content to discard Thor, to kill him even, had he not?  Loki would have proven himself a worthy son, a worthy king, far better than reckless, oafish Thor…proven himself to who?

The Asgardians who mocked him and would despise him if they knew of his blood?  Odin, who had given him the fiction and seemed eager to seal Loki’s fate?  Frigga, who never asked Loki to prove himself.  Thor…his would-be brother, friend, and rival.  What would it have been like if Thor was dead?  Never to darken his doorway again, never to steal the limelight again, never to hurt Loki or make him feel lesser, never to cast a shadow-

-Never to give Loki his sunny smiles, or his crushing hugs, or ask if Loki was okay [to even bother to notice that Loki was not okay], to challenge him, to play with him, to fight with him, to protect him, to be…to be his brother?

Life without the Golden Prince of Asgard was life without Thor…and that was life without a brother, or a friend, or even a rival.

Loki realized suddenly that whatever sliver of delight he might have thought in his rage he’d find at lashing out at Thor, at eliminating Thor, it would never have made him happy.  What he’d wanted was not Thor dead, but Thor as his equal, as his true brother again, not a fiction and not a farce.  Loki had lost any way after Thanos of even thinking such things, and then he had neither been able to say them nor to believe in Thor’s good intentions.  His mind poked at any thread that might lead to unraveling the tapestry of family woven around him by the House of Odin.

Loki had, but Frigga and Thor…had not.  He would not speak of Odin but…his…his mother and his brother…perhaps...

What if.

“It’s too late.”

“No.  We can.  Together.”

Was there truly still a ‘together’…a ‘brother’…in Thor’s eyes?

Loki hadn’t replied and Thor was staring at him with an increasingly hurt look, and an aggravated Jane started to put a hand on Thor as if to pull him away.

Jane and the Avengers would do everything in their power to separate them.  To ‘stop’ Loki, and to take Thor.  Either simply to keep him away, or to twist him against Loki, or to restore his other form and memories…and Loki was not sure now quite what he wanted but he knew one thing:  he was not ready to lose Thor after all.

Loki impulsively grabbed his brother’s wrist and disappeared as he teleported them to Victor’s home.

Thor had been startled and upset when Loki disappeared from their room.  Loki’s behavior overall was strange…and Thor had been feeling strange too ever since he’d woken up on Midgard.  But he was worried that if went and interrupted Loki with Lady Jane his brother would be mad again.

Thor wanted to sit Loki down and make him change back, he wanted Loki to stop acting different, he wanted his little brother to listen and be nice and good again!  But he kept having other feelings too.  Thor kept feeling sad for no reason, so sad he kind of wanted to cry, and he tried not to do that because he was a big boy.  He was the big brother too, and the oldest prince.  But his heart was hurting, and he just wanted to grab Loki and hug him and make them both feel better.  And sometimes Thor thought he might be angry, but it was a big anger.  It was…hot, it was too much.  Thor ignored it as best he could.  It made him feel like he was choking.  And then it was all confusing…he just…

Thor sighed and rubbed at his chest as a sad, heart-pain feeling came over him again.  He looked around the room glumly and noticed something on top of one of the bookshelves that looked familiar.  Thor had nothing to reach it with and tried to climb instead, which is how the bookshelf had fallen on him.

Lady Jane and Loki had entered, and Loki moved it off of him easily.  His little brother had gotten strong, and he asked if Thor was hurt but he was worried about Loki.  But Loki didn’t say anything, Lady Jane looked mad, and then they just…disappeared!

Thor staggered and would have fallen if Loki hadn’t been holding his wrist.  Loki guided him to the floor and Thor sat as he rubbed at his sore legs.

Loki had still said nothing and it made Thor anxious.  “Brother?”  he tried even as he looked around and wondered where they were.

“Your legs hurt.”  Loki noted.  “Let me see.”  he began to roll up Thor’s pant legs as he crouched, and Thor tugged away a little as he moved his face closer.

“Loki!”  Thor exclaimed, and Loki finally looked at him.  “Brother, what is wrong?  Please tell me.”  he put a small hand on Loki’s arm.

Loki saw distress written plainly in Thor’s face and tone and he didn’t quite understand why, but recognized it was to do with him.

‘What if’ echoed in his mind.  So many what ifs.  But the biggest issue was Thor.  There were two ways to look at the possibility of Thor’s fidelity to their supposed brotherhood.  The practical way, which could let him wield Thor’s sentiment against him to leverage as protection against Odin.  And the sentimental way, the one that…that what?  It wasn’t as if Thor and Loki could just go back to being princely brothers again, even if Loki wanted that.  Loki was a criminal, and returning to Asgard meant facing [execution] his sentence.  Thor could not and would not shirk Asgard forever, no matter his brotherly feelings…Thor would inevitably drag Loki back, apparently under the deluded belief that Loki would simply be imprisoned if Jane was to be believed.

But the little Thor…could he be convinced to give up Asgard?  It wasn’t quite what Loki might want most, but when did he ever get what he truly wanted?  And perhaps it was fitting.  Thor would not be the brother Loki knew, but neither would Loki be the brother Thor knew.  Perhaps they might fit together as distorted versions of themselves.  But they would, at least, be together.

‘At least’.  That implied that Loki wanted that, wanted them to be together.  Did he?   Whether Thor loved him or not…if he had loved Loki all the time that he let Loki be a shadow…but Loki had hurt him too, perhaps more intentionally than Thor ever hurt him...Gods!  It was too much to ponder, and so feelings-based.  Loki was exhausted…

Thor slipped his hands into Loki’s suddenly, tiny fingers grasping at Loki’s palms as he looked up at him in concern.  “I love you, Loki.”  he said, earnestly with those bright, blue eyes that were even now his own.  “Whatever is wrong, I will fix it for you.”  he promised.  “Just tell me.”

I am what is wrong, brother.  Loki thought as he tentatively squeezed back a little.  The easy ‘I love yous’ he was not sure what to do with or how to feel about them.  “The truth is…I played a mean prank before we left Asgard…and I am in…a lot of trouble.”

Thor’s eyes widened.  “What did you do?”

“Please do not ask, Thor.”  Loki played a bit of the little brother game again as he kept his voice gentle.  “I want to stay on Midgard for…awhile.  Even longer than we are supposed to…”  he tested the waters.

Thor’s expression grew conflicted.  “Brother, we must go back.  And I will speak to Mother and Father.  It will be alright.”

Loki pulled his hands from Thor’s as he sighed.  “I will not go back…not yet…but if you want to go home without me then…that is okay, brother.”  he adopted a more child-like tone and word choice.

“I will not leave without you.”  Thor said quickly.  “But, brother, we must go home when they send for us.”

“And if I do not go back when they send for us?”

Thor seemed stunned by the question.  “Loki, we must.”   He saw his brother’s face grow strange again, it scared Thor, it did not look like Loki’s face.  Thor felt like he must fix that before anything else so he leaned forward so that he was somewhat between Loki’s crouched legs as he set a hand on Loki’s thigh.  “I will not go back without you, brother.  I promise.  Do not be afraid.  I will always keep you safe, Loki.”  he reassured him again, supposing Loki was scared of their Father being mad.  Their father could be kind of scary sometimes…

The little Thor meant what he said, Loki could believe that much.  But when he was older, and if he knew the truth, what then?  But Loki could keep him from that, could he not?  Trick him and bide his time and raise Thor exclusively as his brother, weed out the business of being a prince and Odinson…surely it was possible…Odin would lose both ‘sons’…but then so would Mother…

And Thor…Loki would steal Thor and all that Thor was, and for what?  If he believed in the adult Thor’s love and kept the little Thor because of it…was he not punishing Thor for loving Loki still?

Madness, all of it, madness.

“The complete absence of indifference.”  noted a voice in the doorway as Victor stood leaned against the frame with his arms crossed.  “I didn’t give you permission to bring another here.”

Loki felt caught out, seen in a moment of vulnerability by a man he did not trust.  He slipped a hand onto Thor’s shoulder as he eyed Victor and prepared for any scenario.  “As I believe you have just seen, he is in no position to reveal your location.  And in fact, has no idea where we are.”

“Not the point, is it?  A relationship built on convenience requires stability where trust is lacking, and you have taken it upon yourself to alter the rules of our arrangement.”

Loki’s jaw tightened.  “If you wish me to leave-”

“I didn’t say that.  Simply making sure we understand each other.”  his gaze flicked to the blue-eyed boy staring at him with a frown.  “Decided to take it all, did you?”

Loki could say little in front of Thor, and he was reticent to say much to Victor anyway.  “He is mine.”  he said in a warning tone, hoping to cut the conversation off with that.  He might bargain with other information, deeds, objects, or abilities…but whatever he chose for Thor, that was between Thor and he.

Thor wasn’t sure what was happening, but as Loki said that Thor was his, he decided Loki meant ‘his brother’.  Was this man wanting to be brothers with Thor or Loki?   “Loki is my little brother.  You may not have him.”  Thor informed the man as he pushed himself up, his legs still a bit sore, and stood in front of the crouched Loki protectively.

“Thor-”

Victor laughed and then offered something of a wry smile that bared a little teeth.  “I don’t want him, little one.  I am sure you won’t find anyone else who does either.”  Loki sneered at that and Victor lifted a brow.  “If you had anyone else to take you in, you wouldn’t be here, would you?  Don’t shoot the messenger.”

Victor had a point, but that made it no less irritating.

Thor did not like the look on Loki’s face and narrowed his eyes at Victor even as Loki rose to stand beside him.  He did not like Loki being so big either, but that was a different kind of problem.  Thor slipped his hand into Loki’s and held it tightly.  “Why are we here, Loki?  Who is he?” he asked as he looked up at his little brother.   Thor was starting to think whatever spell had made Loki bigger had made him very confused.  That must be why he was acting so funny.  They really needed to fix him.  Perhaps he could call for Heimdall and tell their Mother of the problem.

“This is…where I was sent to study.  This man knows many things.”  Loki hedged.  The feeling of Thor’s hand in his own, far smaller than it ‘ought’ to be, and there because of the little Thor being fiercely protective had far more effect on him now.  It was so easy to dismiss Thor when he’d been convinced of Thor’s readiness to deliver Loki to his execution, and that therefore Thor was lying about his little sentiments.  Now he had doubts, and even Victor could see plainly Loki had no one.  No one but this little Thor for the moment.  

Victor smirked.  He had given a great deal of consideration to what uses he might get out of the not-quite-Asgardian sorcerer, but to have a weakened and mind-altered Thor in his grasp…he had always wanted to study the Thunderer’s lightning.  “You and your brother are welcome guests.”  he told Thor politely.  “As long as you don’t make a mess.”

Loki was reasonably confident that his powers were superior to Victor’s, but he wasn’t spoiling for a fight either.  Least of all with the muddled Thor in tow.  “Understood…I thank you for your hospitality.”  he offered carefully.

Thor got a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach.  His hand clenched and unclenched and he felt like he was supposed to be holding something.

“Come, brother.  I will show you my room.”  Loki said, mostly as an excuse to get away from Victor as he led his brother down the hall.  He was glad Thor obliged, and in fact, he was surprised overall by how relatively docile and amenable Thor was being.  Loki expected an entitled, spoiled boy who would make demands and run roughshod over him.

Why had he expected that?

Loki’s room was a guest room with modern furnishings and Thor scrunched his nose as they entered.  It was monochrome and the furniture was pointy.  This did not look like a room for his brother.  “Your real room is better.”  Thor noted.

Loki felt a pang at that, something between pain and bitterness.  There was no ‘real room’, there was the room for the fictional Loki Odinson, and Loki would surely never see it again.

And yet if he was not Loki Odinson, he was not Thor’s brother.  He could not have it both ways…he couldn’t reject their past and claim Thor with it in the same breath.

Well, technically he could.

Thor rubbed at one of his knees and Loki recalled what he’d been interrupted from.  He led Thor to the bed.  “Let me see your knees.”

“It is fine-”

Loki slipped his hands around Thor’s torso, struck by how unnervingly tiny his brother was now, and set him on the bed.  Thor did not seem to care for that at all.

”You are my little brother.”  Thor protested.  “I carry you.”

Thor seemed rather perturbed about it, and Loki found himself oddly amused by it.  “I do not think you could lift me right now, Thor.”

Rather than pouting or taking it as a tease, Thor looked a little bereft about it as he frowned up at Loki.  “That is not a good thing, brother.”

Thor allowed Loki to lift his pant legs, and he saw dark bruises where the shelves had slammed them.  A mortal child might have broken their legs if not far worse.  Thor would be sore a bit then heal.  All the same, Loki gently kneaded at the bruises and the offended muscles.  “You are always so reckless.”  he muttered, for a moment, feeling like they were themselves in days past.  This would be far from the first bit of wounds of Thor’s he had tended, and the reverse was true as well.

“What is ‘reckless’?”  Thor asked.

And if that didn’t just bring him back to the real moment and how young this Thor was…Loki swallowed uncomfortably.  “You are not careful, and do dangerous things without thinking.”

“I am careful!”  he protested.  “I think about things!”

Loki’s lips twitched as he rolled Thor’s pant legs down.  “What manner of ‘things’, brother?”

Thor seemed taken aback to have been asked and he did pout then.  “Many things.” he grumbled a bit.

--

“You are always so reckless.”  Loki complained as he tended a gash on his brother’s arm.

Thor chuckled.  “Confident.”  he corrected, then winced as Loki aggressively tightened a wrap around his wound.  He could see Loki’s irritation and he grinned at his brother as he bumped their knees together.  “With you by my side, brother, what need have I to fear?”

Loki tried to hold back a reluctant smile at the sentiment.  “I see.  You assume I will always take care of you.”

“And I you.  Fair enough?”  Thor waggled his brows playfully and Loki finally snorted.

“I do not get into nearly as much trouble as you do, brother.  Hardly fair when I am doing all the work.”

“I do not get you into as much trouble as you get me into, trickster.”  Thor grumbled.

Loki grinned a little at that, there was  some truth in it.  He finished tending Thor’s wound and let his knee rest against Thor’s.  “My trouble is more fun.”

“For you!”

“For us.”  Loki corrected playfully as Thor rolled his eyes lightly.

--

Loki sighed at another unasked for memory as he slid onto the bed next to Thor.  As he lay down for a moment, tired and uncertain of his next move, Thor joined him so close their chests were nearly touching.  Loki studied the blue eyes looking back at him in a now-rounded face.

Thor’s hand found its way to Loki’s hair where he stroked his palm downwards in line with how the hair was slicked.  “If you are sleepy, brother, rest.  I will protect you.”  he promised.

--

Loki hesitated as he looked over the task he’d been set.  The All-Father had sent Thor, Loki, and the Warriors Four on a quest to help a collection of villages ravaged by bandits and magical fire raged.  He had a spell in mind to stop it, but he worried it would drain him of his powers for a time and leave him vulnerable.  If he made any mistakes, he might suffer backlash.  Messing with the powers of another was dangerous, far more dangerous than regular spell-casting.

“Brother?  What are you waiting for?”  Thor sounded a little impatient as he stood next to Loki on the little hill that overlooked the burning village.

“Nothing.”  Loki muttered, not sure if Thor would misunderstand and think Loki weak.

“You are tense, Loki, tell me why.”  Thor insisted.

“There is a magical fire that only I may put out!  Am I not to be tense?”  Loki snapped back, even as his anxiety flickered.  He half-expected Thor to grow angry back but instead Thor’s heavy, strong hand found his shoulder and squeezed.

“You can do this, brother.”

The words twisted his insides a bit and he bit out.  “I may be…weakened after the attempt.  Or…injured.”

Thor looked alarmed.  “Then-”

“-I must try!  No one else can do it!  Just…if anything should happen…” he trailed off.

“Loki, I will let nothing happen to you.  I will protect you.”  Thor said firmly.

“You will be needed in the battle-”

“-The Warriors Four can handle it if need be.  I will not leave your side if you have need of me, brother.”

Loki bit his bottom lip as his eyes stung at the declaration.  The big, wonderful oaf.  His hand found Thor’s as he squeezed it tightly.

“Would it help if you borrowed from my power?”

“What?”  Loki glanced at his brother.  “I thought you would not do that again.”

Loki had a method of joining another’s power to his own for a short time.  He had tried it once with Thor and he’d taken too much too readily and left Thor sick for a time.  Thor had grumpily said he would not allow it again.

“If it will help you, then we will do it.”

“You sure you trust my ‘tricks’, brother?”

“I trust you.”  Thor said simply as his hand moved from Loki’s shoulder to the back of his neck.  “And I will keep you safe, brother."

Loki swallowed hard, a rush of love for his brother flooding him.  If Thor had such faith in him, surely he could do this, and if Thor was willing to trust him to channel his power…  He held out his hand and Thor placed his in Loki’s as they entwined their fingers tightly.  With Thor’s support and power, Loki was able to dispel the fire with no backlash to himself or Thor.

Thor grinned.  “Good work, brother."

Loki tucked the praise close as he loped an arm around his brother’s back.  “You too, Thor.”  he murmured.  Thor could be aggravating as anything, but his brother was steadfast when Loki needed him.  There was comfort in that.

--

Loki rested his wrist on Thor’s shoulder as he set his palm on Thor’s back.  He took note again of how small Thor was, of how different it was, and how open Thor’s expressions were.  “I need no rest, brother.  But thank you.”  he offered, and Thor seemed pleased by the contact as he squirmed closer and ran his hand from Loki’s hair to his cheek.  He poked at one of Loki’s cheek bones and Loki’s brow furrowed.

“It is still strange to see you big, Loki.  Mother really wants you to stay like this?”

Loki nearly chuckled at the thought that he was studying Thor’s new smallness while Thor was studying his new largeness.  “Yes, a test of my magic.”  he lied.

“The spell…makes you think as a grown up?”  Thor finally asked, though he didn’t see how it could be otherwise.

Loki supposed his way of speaking would strike Thor off if he expected…presumably a young toddler.  “Yes…you dislike it so much?”  he ventured to ask.

“You are not happy.  Maybe the spell is why.”  Thor explained and Loki stilled at that.  “You do not laugh or smile.  And you did not want to be soothed when you had a nightmare.  And we have not hugged.”

Loki didn’t know what to make of all that, and of the fact that Thor was saying it.  “Is it a bad thing, if I am not happy?”

“Yes.”  Thor said vehemently as he squirmed closer still till their noses almost touched.  He rested his arm against Loki’s chest.  “It hurts me when you are hurt or sad, brother.  I will take care of you, so you can be happy again.  Even if you are big right now, you are my little brother.  I love you.”  he fidgeted to push up and kiss Loki’s forehead before he rubbed their noses together.  “You are still my Loki.”

Loki felt like he’d lost his breath a moment at that, and at the feel of Thor tenderly kissing him and drawing close.  Thor meant every word and gesture.  When was the last time Thor had been so tender?  Before the coronation when Loki told him not to doubt his love even as he was betraying Thor?  Frigga had been tender when she’d enthroned Loki.  But from there it had been downhill, fighting and pain and rage.  Then he’d fallen from the Bifrost, suffering in itself, and then Thanos and the Other.   Thor had been tender on the mountain and on Avengers Tower, admittedly, and he found he could not convince himself any longer that it was a manipulation.  Not from guileless, foolish, loyal Thor.

“I do not feel like your Loki.” he whispered, almost accidentally.

Thor’s eyes widened briefly before he slipped an arm over Loki and pulled himself against his brother.  The way he’d positioned himself, the top of his head was about an inch higher than Loki’s as they lay on their sides.  “You are.” he promised.  “No matter what.  You are my Loki and I am your Thor.  We are brothers forever.”

The confession that he was a frost giant, the son of Laufey, danced on Loki’s lips.  He knew not why Thor had been able to accept him, but surely the child Thor could not…a child could not reason away monstrosity.

Loki thought of Thor during the coronation.  The soft, grateful way Thor had looked at Loki as he offered Thor his love.  The vulnerability he showed to Loki alone as he gripped his helm anxiously and asked how he looked.

Loki had stood before Thor so smug in the Shield base.  Thor, mortal and weak, as Loki stood over him a king and told him terrible lies and Thor suspected nothing.  He trusted Loki so well, sure that Loki would do him no harm.  Loki had reveled in it at the time that he had tricked the foolish Golden Prince of Asgard, Odin’s precious true-born son.

Thor pleaded with Loki on the Bifrost, let himself be tricked again, came for him on Midgard…

When had he stopped seeing Thor’s trust in him as something precious?

The length of Loki’s arm was longer than Thor’s torso as he returned the gesture of pulling close and held the boy against him as he idly rubbed his fingers on Thor’s neck.  “Norns, Thor.”  he said quietly, overwhelmed by the turn of it all.  Loki had still been sure of Thor’s faithlessness, that he had not truly accepted Loki.  But if it was otherwise…and here was this little Thor...

Thor wasn’t sure why his little brother seemed sad, but he did his best to make him feel better.  Loki finally hugged him back and he was rubbing Thor’s neck with his fingers.  He’d never done that before, but it felt nice.  That Loki said he didn’t feel like his Loki worried Thor, but he did his best to reassure him.  “It is alright, brother.”  he soothed as he rubbed their heads together.  “I have you.”  he squeezed his brother as hard as he could, it was unfortunate he couldn’t hold Loki properly.  Thor gave Loki’s nose a kiss as he smiled at his brother.  “You did not break your fast yet.  I can make you pancakes!  And there is an oracle named Google who can tell us how to make lemon tarts!  Do you want to, brother?”  he offered.

Loki knew nothing of this oracle, but he wasn’t eager to present himself before a seer of any kind.  The fact that his brother was offering to cook for him was a little funny.  Would the older Thor have an interest in a servant’s task?  And the fact he was mentioning lemon tarts…it was nostalgic.  A childhood comfort.  This little Thor truly knew nothing.  “You truly love me, don’t you?”  he murmured.

Thor wasn’t sure why Loki had answered with that, but he smiled warmly as he ran his fingers against his brother’s scalp gently.  “Always, Loki.  More than…more than anyone loves anyone.”  he declared.

It was a silly declaration, but the words and Thor’s doting expression went right through him.  Loki had been so lonely.  He let go of the Bifrost feeling like there was no place for him.  Loki had no one, no family, no home, perhaps no future.  This little Thor gave him a feeling of welcome, a feeling of coming home.  It was ridiculous, but he was drawn to it like moth to flame.  “Thor…you fool…”  Loki closed his eyes against the sting of wetness and clutched at his brother a moment.  His brother.  Gods.

“I am not a fool!”  Thor sounded a little hurt and Loki chuckled slightly as he brought his hand up to cup the back of Thor’s head as he leaned their heads together for a brief moment.

“You might be right.”  Loki murmured.  “I might be the fool between us after all.”  He opened his eyes to see Thor looked puzzled by that, and he offered him a slight smile.  “Well, I am not sure Victor wishes us in his kitchen, but we can try.”

Thor brightened.  “You will like pancakes, brother!  Come on!”  he said eagerly as he squirmed away from Loki and waited by the bed.  “I will teach you!  Cooking is fun.”  He had been surprised.

“Is that so?”  Loki asked, feeling lighter than he had at any point since…perhaps the coronation, perhaps the reveal in the Vault.

As he got up, Thor took his hand and started to tug him towards the door.  Loki supposed he would allow it, and then Thor paused as he looked up at him sheepishly.  “I do not know where the kitchen is.”

Thor, small and eager, only as tall as Loki’s thigh, and holding his hand like he was a child to be led.  He didn’t want this, Loki realized.  Loki wanted to be on Asgard, he wanted his Mother, he wanted Thor to be himself but devoted still, and as for Odin…well, he still had a bone to pick with him.  But Loki would give much to be home, to be safe from Thanos, to have a place-his place-again.  He wanted to be home.

Loki led Thor to the kitchen and figured if bringing Thor hadn’t gotten him kicked out, then using the kitchen wouldn’t either so long as he cleaned.  Victor kept a well-stocked kitchen and he obliged Thor as he helped him find what Thor remembered them to need.  They ran into a problem when Thor couldn’t remember the quantity of what they needed.  Loki considered it, and then told Thor he might have a trick to help.  He rested his hand on Thor’s head as he pulled his memory of the time with the Avengers.

Loki was looking for Thor cooking, but he found himself drawn to Thor gushing about…Loki, as he drew pictures of them.  Loki being his cute, little baby brother whom he loved most, and who liked frogs, and was excited for Loki to try marshmallows and Thor’s new coloring supplies.  The sentiments were childish but honest, Thor’s focus was so much on Loki and so pleased at the thought of making Loki happy.  He found the memories of cooking, the quantities and ingredients Steve explained to Thor, and he held them in his own memory as he released Thor’s head.  “I have them now.”  he explained.

Thor seemed awed.  “When did you learn so many things?  That is so awesome.”  Thor gushed as he grinned up at Loki.

“Is it?”

“Yes!  I cannot do any spells…but you can do so many…Mother said you are a..a…”  he trailed off.  “Prod..”

“Prodigy?”

“Yes!  I did not know what it means, but now I think I do.  You are little but you are so good.  I am so proud of you, brother.”  Thor beamed.

Loki inhaled sharply at the words that he had been desperate to hear from Thor for so long.  This little Thor said them so easily, and over his sorcery no less.  Loki was tempted to be angry, tempted to feel cheated because the older Thor dismissed his sorcery, but the kindness was an oasis in the desert after all Loki had been through.  Now that he had given in to the idea that Thor had not been intending to drag him to an execution.  That perhaps Thor did, and had, loved him still and that it…meant something to Loki.  He set a hand on Thor’s head and ruffled the hair gently.  “I..am glad you think so.”

Thor smiled up at him with such obvious warmth and affection that Loki had the temptation to scoop Thor up and simply hold onto him.  Some part of him suddenly desired to apologize to Thor, to explain.  Another wanted to seek comfort for what had happened with Thanos.  Some part would be content to simply have Thor hold him and say nothing, just…just be there.  Willingly, even knowing who Loki was and all he had done.

The pair set to work making the pancakes, and although Loki figured he had a better sense of what to do than the child Thor, he let Thor play little teacher anyway.

“Crack the egg gently, or it will go-”  Thor made a sound effect of an egg splattering, and Loki smiled lightly, “-And we do not eat the shells.  We throw them away.”  When it came time for flour, he showed Loki the measuring cup as Loki told him from the memory how many were needed.  “And this is-oh.”   There were more numbers than cups on it and it seemed to puzzle Thor for a minute.  Loki turned the measuring cup so it faced the ‘cup measurement’ side and Thor brightened.  “Yes!  You are so clever, brother.”  he praised, not seeming the least bothered that Loki had shown him.  “And then we use this little measure stick-” he said of a tablespoon.

Loki watched in quiet fascination as Thor excitedly and patiently showed Loki what Steve had shown him.  He enlisted Loki’s help, and Loki obliged without argument.  Loki was careful to mimic Thor to please him, he cracked the eggs just as Thor had shown, and double-checked the measurement on the cups.  Thor beamed the whole time, like it was a great pride to watch Loki doing what Thor had shown him.

“And then we stir!”  Thor cupped the bowl in one arm and stirred aggressively with the other and the bowl slipped through his grasp.  He made a noise of surprise, and then his eyes widened when Loki in a swift movement caught the bowl before it hit the floor.  The awed look was back on his face as he looked up at Loki.  “Wow.”  he said, almost reverently.  “You are so fast when you are big!  We should have a race!”  he said excitedly.

Loki offered Thor a wider smile as he brushed his knuckles against Thor’s neck.  “Perhaps we shall.”  he held his hand out for the fork and Thor obliged as he watched Loki finish stirring the batter with a happy expression.

“I will do this part.”  Thor said when it came to using the pan, and Loki wasn’t too sure he trusted the little Thor with a hot pan.  “When you are older I will let you try.”  he explained.

Loki nearly laughed at the absurdity of it, the little Thor concerned that Loki was too young to wield the hot pan.  Thor was too short to reach though, and Loki ended up bringing a chair from the table for Thor to stand on.  His brother, the Mighty Thor, unable to reach the top of a stove without a chair.  The thought made him uncomfortable as he observed Thor focused on his task.

There was some trial and error as Thor used too much batter and then struggled to flip the pancakes without flopping them in half.  He had managed to make a couple of decent ones, but another flop happened to the side of the pan and the pancake was in danger of dribbling into the heating element.  Thor panicked, not sure what would happen in that case, and reached to scoop the pancake up without thinking about it.  He touched the backs of his finger to the heating element and the pads of his finger against the hot pain and drew back with a gasp.

“Thor!”  Loki pushed the pan away from the heated unit and focused on his brother as he clutched his fingers.  Thor’s fingers were red and seemed painful from the way the stunned Thor was gripping his hand.  Loki pulled Thor into his arms and brought the boy to the sink where he ran cold water.  “Here, put your fingers under it.”  he guided Thor’s hand even as he said so, a firm arm keeping Thor close to him.

Thor, to his embarrassment, burned his fingers.  He had wanted to impress Loki and make sure Loki did not get burned, but then Thor went and did it to himself instead.  Loki picked Thor up, which he did not care for, and started helping him.  Thor was the big brother, he shouldn’t let Loki treat him like Thor was the real little one.

Loki set him down and examined his fingers.

“They are fine, brother.”  Thor tried as he made to pull his hand away, but Loki clamped Thor’s wrist in one hand as he pressed Thor’s fingers into his free palm.

“Hush.”  Loki instructed softly as he summoned sorcery to his hand.  He couldn’t heal the burns, but he could soothe the pain and offer some relief while Thor’s high healing factor did its work.

“Do not hush me.”  Thor protested with a grumble.

Loki lifted a brow.  “Then do not pretend you are fine when you are not.”

Thor looked confused and sheepish at that, like he was surprised to be called out on doing so.  And then he sighed as he moved closer and tilted so that his shoulder was against Loki’s upper arm.  “I wanted to do a good job for you, brother.”  he admitted.

Loki blinked at that, a little taken aback, and he considered it briefly before he rapped his knuckles on Thor’s chest.  “You are.”  he assured him.  “We will finish and break our fast together.  All is well.”

Thor seemed relieved by that, and offered Loki a smile that he found himself returning.  The rest of the cooking went off without a hitch and Loki used sorcery to clean the mess in an instant [to Thor’s amazed delight-he was so easily impressed at this age it seemed].  The brothers sat down to eat [Thor cut Loki’s pancakes again and he allowed it with amusement this time].  Loki was skeptical, but he humored Thor in trying them who watched with seemingly bated breath for his reaction.

“It…is good.”  Loki finally said, not all that impressed, but enjoying them more than he’d expected.

Thor grinned at that as he set to work on his own pancakes.  When the meal was complete, Thor asked when they would return to the Avengers and Loki was at a loss.

“Why would we return?”

“Father sent us to study with them.”

“...He…sent me to study here.”  Loki ‘explained’.  “And those Avengers were not nice, remember?”

Thor hesitated at that, conflicted between ‘obeying Odin’ and the fact the Avengers did not seem to like his brother much.  “They were not…”  he conceded.

Loki sought a distraction from the conversation, and abruptly suggested.  “We should wash up, brother.  Is that alright?”  he asked it as if asking permission, and sure enough, Thor’s mind went to tending Loki.

”Yes!”  Thor seemed more eager than he expected and he found out why after they’d both washed up and Thor wanted to brush his hair.  He’d been less than eager and prepared to gel it again.  But in the end he capitulated as he sat on the floor with his back against the bed and Thor sitting above him on the edge with his legs on either side of Loki’s shoulders.  Thor dried it off gently with a towel and then carefully brushed it.

Loki found it a little hard to reconcile the domesticity of the moment with what had been his life for the past year or so.  He had twisted Thor’s form for ill purpose and now had the little Thor sweetly tending him and eager to do things like brush his hair.  Thor ran his fingers through Loki’s hair and stroked his head a bit before Loki felt a faint tug and suspected Thor was doing a braid.  He hadn’t known Thor had known how at that age, or perhaps Thor wasn’t quite as young as he’d thought presently.

Thor finished with broad smile as even wet, he could see some of Loki’s curls instead of the slickness that had been in his hair before.  He liked his baby brother’s hair better this way, and he added a braid on the side since it was long enough now.  Thor hunched at the waist as he bent to set his cheek on Loki’s head and slip his arms around Loki’s neck in a hug.  “You are so cute, brother.”  he said with satisfaction.

Loki was bewildered by that, a dubious expression crossing his face as he found himself hugged and praised for being cute by the child Thor.  “You think that of me?”  He recalled times in his childhood where Thor had called him ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ even ‘pretty’ once in awhile, usually accompanied by affectionate, squeezing hugs.  But that hadn’t happened since he’d grown.

“Mmhm.”  Thor said contentedly.  “My baby brother is the cutest.  Mother said I was right too.”

The words put a pain in Loki’s heart as he sighed quietly and lifted his hand to squeeze one of the arms wrapped around him.  He realized it was the hand that had turned Jotun blue when he’d been grabbed on Jotunheim.  This little Thor would not praise him for cute if he saw that, he would doubtless be terrified.  “You think too highly of me, Thor.” he muttered.

There was a pause and then Thor released Loki as he clambered off the bed and plopped down beside Loki, where he sat with his knee against Loki’s thigh and his forearm resting on Loki’s leg.  He faced Loki and looked up at him with a loving smile.  Loki’s tone sounded kind of sad again, and Thor didn’t know why, but he would again make it better.  He would make it better as many times as Loki needed him too.  “Brother, you are the best, you are very good.”  Thor found Loki’s hand and sandwiched it between his own as he kissed the tips of Loki’s fingers like when he was properly small.  “Do not be sad, Loki.  I am here.”  he squeezed Loki’s hand.

Loki’s expression scrunched as he grew pained and he impulsively snaked an arm out to draw Thor against him.  Thor squirmed a bit to adjust but rested his head against Loki’s chest.  He wanted Thor to stay, he didn’t want to lose him.  But the kinder Thor was, the more he felt stirrings of guilt for what he’d done to him.  If he kept Thor this way, if he managed to hide him from Asgard, he’d be stealing Thor’s life from him: including the part Loki had shared with him.  In a way, he’d be killing Thor again.  But if he released him, Thor would do all he could to take Loki back to Asgard, he would probably not believe Loki if he explained Odin was sure to execute him.  And anyway, what if Jane was wrong, and Thor knew all along or would not fight it?

“Will you leave the braid in?”  Thor asked, a little muffled against Loki’s chest,  so innocent and affectionate and at odds with the thoughts in Loki’s mind.

Loki was pondering stealing Thor’s future and Thor was worried about if Loki would wear a silly braid he’d plaited.  “Yes, brother.”  he agreed.  Thor made a pleased noise and Loki squeezed him tighter.  Thor, you little fool…you always trust me too much…

The pair spent the rest of the day together again.  Loki caught sight of his curls and braid and was tempted to straighten it, it felt strangely like a vulnerability to leave it so.  But Thor seemed so pleased by it, prideful of the braid and that Loki chose to wear it, and he kept affectionately finding times and reasons to stroke at Loki’s hair and ruffle the curls.  He had come to realize the little Thor was more observant than he would have given him credit for, and seemed to be attentive to Loki’s display of mood.  Thor seemed off-put by Loki’s size in some ways but overall kept treating Loki like a child.  He led Loki around by the hand, made sure he washed his hands after using the restroom, tucked Loki into a blanket when they sat on the couch, and so on.

Loki recalled another bit of memory he’d seen in Thor’s mind, where they’d addressed with Thor that he seemed to be doing what parents did.  He saw more and more truth in that.  Thor was strangely parental, though he seemed to think it was what any ‘big brother’ would do.

He crossed paths with Victor once more briefly, and he hadn’t like the way Victor’s eyes lingered on Thor.  The latter seemed unnerved by Victor, and given how friendly Thor was, it struck him as all the more reason to be careful.

Loki used sorcery to change their clothes into sleeping clothes when night came, and he found himself smiling at Thor’s excited enthusiasm.  He had given Thor red ones, himself green ones, which Thor noted as ‘our favorite colors!’.  And being a little cheeky, he had given Thor a little frog in the corner of his and given Thor’s glee, he matched it on himself.

Thor grinned at Loki.  “I told the Avengers you love frogs.  Oh!”  his eyes widened.  “I forgot to tell you!  They had a magic box that showed pictures.  It let them talk to the oracle Google!  Lady Darcy asked it for frogs, and they have many different ones.  There are frogs in reds, and blues, and yellows!  I will show you, brother.  I drew you pictures with their coloring sticks.  We will ‘color’ together.”  he promised with a broad smile.

“Why don’t you tell her?  How you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends, to kill me!”

“What?”  Frigga asked.

“Well, I must have been enforcing Father’s last command.”

“You’re a talented liar, brother.  Always have been.”

“It’s good to have you back.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to destroy Jotunheim!”

Loki stared down at the little Thor, eyes filled with nothing but love and trust, no idea of what Loki had done and was.

"Brother, however I have wronged you, whatever I have done that has led you to do this, I am truly sorry.   B ut these people are innocent, taking their lives will gain you nothing.   S o take mine, and end this."

Loki felt a tremble in his hands and he clenched them as he made himself smile at Thor.  “So many colors?  I look forward to seeing them.”

Thor grinned at that, and the pair laid down to sleep.  He seemed to assume he would have permission to embrace Loki [he was right], so Thor did his best to tuck them in together with Loki against him.  He obliged by resting a loose arm over Thor over his hip with the length tucked against Thor’s back.  Thor chattered a bit more about what had happened with the Avengers, and Loki simply listened, more lulled by the sound of Thor happily speaking to Loki than what he was actually saying.  The feel of Thor who had eagerly and trustingly brought Loki close.  He was focused on Loki, not to be Thor’s shadow, but as though Loki were the one on a pedestal.  What had changed Thor from this?  Loki had blamed himself once, then blamed Thor…where did the truth lie?  Was it wrong to think of it as something to merit blame?

Thor bade him good night and offered more words of love and he was soon asleep.  Loki took longer as he held Thor close and thought about how in an instant, he found his world turned around again.  He had been adrift since the discovery of his parentage, and now the little Thor was setting himself up to be an inadvertent lifeline.  And he found Thor’s eager affections too much more desirable than the mire of misery and lonely rage he’d been feeling.  Thor’s love, pride, adoration, and trust was too heady when he’d been a half-step away from thinking he’d be taken to Asgard to be executed by his so-called family.  He imagined no one would miss him, they would not speak his name, he would die alone.

But here was Thor again.  Who had not saved him from Thanos even when Loki had begged it in his weak, pained moments.  Begged for Frigga, or even Odin to come, for Heimdall to see him.  And the Other had used it against him.  He had convinced Loki they left him on purpose, they did not care.

Loki stared at what he could see of Thor in the dim light from the hallway that slipped through the door.  The Mighty Thor, tiny and helpless in Loki’s arms.  His brother after all?  At least for now…Loki forced himself to sleep, and as was more often than not the case, the dreams came again.

--

“Please…”  Loki whispered, too heated and dry to produce tears and his face ached with the agony of it.  “Brother…Mother…”  he choked.  “Father..please…”  he was in and out of sanity, in and out of cognizance and awareness.  Loki was so in pain, it was hard to feel like an existence at all, but in his state of agony he had an instinctive, deep-rooted urge to seek his family to save him.  The fall from the Bifrost was pushed from his mind, the revelation of his parentage.  He only knew he was Loki, and in so much pain, and he wanted his big brother to come as he always did.  Why wasn’t he coming?

“You have no family, Loki No One’s Son.  No one will come for you.”

Loki gave a tear-less sob.

“They are glad to be rid of you.  They will not come, even if you beg.”

“Brother, Thor, please…Please…I’m sorry…”  Loki whimpered, mouth dry, the words a mournful, pleading rasp.

“You have no brother.  He tossed you into the Abyss, remember?  He stole your throne and left you to die, a worthless frost giant."

The memory danced through Loki’s mind.  Thor, cold-faced, then satisfied as he hurled Loki from the Bifrost and smirked as Loki fell into oblivion with an approving Odin at his side.

How could he have forgotten?  They had betrayed him, lied to him…they would never help him…they didn’t love him.  Loki had no family, he had no one.

Loki sobbed in anger as well as pain.  Even his ‘mother’ did not care…no one cared...he could only be the villain to them...but if that’s what we was to be, that is what he would give them…he would find a way…he would make them regret throwing Loki away…

--

Loki opened his eyes to humming, a squeezing tightness, and Thor somewhat rocking him as best he could.  He was confused for a split second as his mind went from the vivid memory-dream to his strange reality.

“Shh, Loki, I am here, brother.  You had another nightmare.  I love you, Loki.  I will not let you be hurt.   I promise, okay?   Shh…”  Thor went back to his humming as he hugged Loki and pressed their heads together.

The Other lied, the Other showed him false memories and twisted his mind.  Thor had wanted Loki back.  A few tears left his eyes as he gripped Thor back as tightly as he dared.  Thor was strong for a child, but not invulnerable, and Loki buried his face in Thor’s hair a moment.  “Brother.”  Thor was his brother, even if Odin was not his father, even if Loki Odinson was a fiction, he refused to lose this tether.  “You are my brother.”  he whispered fiercely, determined not to let Odin take this from him too.

“Always, Loki.”  Thor said again, soothingly.  “My little brother.”  he said as he squeezed Loki and peppered little kisses along the his head while Loki smiled into his hair with wet eyes.

Loki did not need to raise him as a little bodyguard, Thor would happily protect him.  He always had, when he could.  It was clear to Loki as he regained clarity about their relationship that if Thor had known about Thanos, he would have come for Loki.  Even if it courted death, he would have come.  Loki wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to fix Thor, or to leave him this way.  He wasn’t sure if he could convince a little Thor to stay with him indefinitely anyway, hiding from Asgard.  Loki was not willing to use sorcery to twist his mind to do so.  But he didn’t want to lose Thor, he was sure of that now, as he’d so often been in his life.

--

The pair had fallen back asleep, but Thor had woken up a little after midnight and crept from Loki and the bed to seek water.  He quietly headed for the kitchen, not sure why he had woken up, he had thought someone had said his name but Loki was asleep.  Thor got himself water and was headed back for the room when sound caught his attention.  A large box was displaying moving pictures and making noise, and he headed towards it curiously.

Images flashed on the screen, speaking of ‘The Attack on New York’.  He watched with wide eyes as buildings were destroyed by flying creatures.  A woman speaking over the images began to explain that the attack was led by an alien from space who called himself ‘Loki’.  Thor watched as as his brother, as a grown up, flashed across the screen.  He wore a golden helm with large horns, and green, and there were clips of him with a long scepter.  Loki was speaking strangely, yelling and telling people to ‘kneel’, and he seemed to be about to attack someone before a man Thor realized was at the Avengers Tower-Steve-fought back.

The woman explained the Avengers had saved the day and listed them all one by one, and Thor froze when a man she called ‘Thor’ came on screen.  She called him another alien from space, but praised Thor as a hero.  And his mouth fell open as he saw Mjolnir in this man’s-Thor’s-hands.  Clips played of battles as Thor wielded Mjolnir and lightning.  And more of Loki doing bad things.  When the little segment had finished, Thor stood stunned, confused, and not quite able to process what he’d seen.

“And now you know.”  came a voice from the doorway where Victor stood impassively.

“It is a trick.”  Thor said.

“No trick.  Loki brought the Chitauri, those monsters, to Earth and attacked New York.  And you, with the other Avengers, stopped him.”

“You are lying!”  Thor snapped, his expression distressed.  “Mjolnir is the king’s weapon.  And I am not grown up yet.”

“You were, until Loki made you small.  Until he made you forget.”

“Stop it!”  Thor shouted at him.

“I can prove it.”  Victor said as he clicked on a little box in his hands.  “You probably don’t know what a camera is, but the city is full of them.  Your brother is staying in my home.  I make it point to know who I am working with.  I used the cameras in the area to watch what was done to you.”

“No.”  Thor took a step away, about to shout for Loki, about to fight his way past the man.

The man clicked a button and the box showed moving pictures again.  Thor did not want to look, but he couldn’t help it.  He saw Loki, and the man called Thor, who looked much like him and wielded Mjolnir, speaking to Loki.  Then Loki grabbed him and…Thor started to get smaller…and smaller…

Thor felt he forgot to breathe a moment as he stared at the screen, transfixed as the Avengers came and chased Loki away before they picked him up.  “It is a trick.”  he repeated.

“No.”  Victor said as he came closer while Thor watched a few more scenes, and he covertly slipped a tiny, black dot onto Thor’s neck.  One that would send diagnostic measurements of Thor’s vitals and power fluctuations.  “You were ‘grown up’, and Loki made you small again.  So that you wouldn’t fight him anymore.  Because he doesn’t want to go back to Asgard.”

Thor recalled Loki’s words that he had played a mean trick and wouldn’t go back to Asgard.  But this was impossible, Loki was his baby brother, and he was little, and he would never hurt Thor.  He would not hurt people.  “Why not?”  he asked.

“From what I understand…Loki committed crimes on Asgard, and here on Earth, and your ‘All-Father’ wants him to answer for it.  You were supposed to bring him back to Asgard, so Loki did this to you instead.”

"No..."  Thor shook his head with a deep frown, that could not be right.

“The Avengers Tower is huge, you can’t miss it.  If you want to go back to your friends, I won’t stop you.”

“Loki-”

“-Hates the Avengers.  They stopped him.  They’re your friends.”

The Avengers had been so nice to Thor but so mean to Loki…Thor’s heart rate increased and he felt the blood rushing to his ears, he was a little dizzy.  This must be a lie…

“Go ask the Avengers.  If they tell you what I’ve told you, you know I’m telling the truth, right?  And if not, you know Loki will find you again.  He’ll come for you either way, since he has some plan for you.”

“Loki would not hurt me.”  Thor said, a weaker insistence.

“You are a prince, aren’t you?  A prince should make strong decisions with all the knowledge that he can.  Ask the Avengers and see what they say.  If Loki did these bad things, he needs your help, doesn’t he?  You can’t help him if you don’t know what he’s done.  You’re the older brother, you have a responsibility.”  Victor had taken the measure of the little Thor, and he chose his words carefully.

Sure enough, it seemed to click something into place for Thor who looked determined.  “I will…ask…and then I will be back.  I am not leaving my brother.”

“Of course not.”  Victor agreed coyly.  “Front door is that way, I took the liberty of providing you with a pair of shoes and a coat, should you choose to use them.”

Thor realized he was in sleeping clothes still, but he wasn’t going to risk going back into the room and waking Loki.  He would be quick, and back before Loki woke up.  Thor cautiously walked around Victor, who  chuckled, and Thor made his way to the other room where he slipped on the shoes and coat.  Once outside, he shivered against the cold night air but was not going to back down.  The city was bright even at night, and he saw the big red A of the Tower and began to run in that direction.

--

There was a knock on Loki’s door, and he woke up feeling oddly groggy, it was unlike him.  He frowned before he realized he detected…a faint trace of magic.  Loki had been messed with while he and Thor slept-Thor…where was Thor?”

Loki had summoned a dagger and teleported out the door in an instant and he pressed the dagger tip against Victor’s rib.  “Where is he?”  he snarled.

“I was just coming to tell you.”  Victor said calmly.  “He left, headed for Avengers Tower.”

Loki’s brow furrowed slightly.  “What?”

“He discovered the television, and some rather damning footage of you attacking New York.  And incidentally, footage of you reducing his age.”

Loki stilled before he pressed the dagger tip harder against Victor.  “What have you done?”  he hissed.  “What are you after?”

“Thor is wearing a device that monitors his health and power readings and sends me real-time data.  I am intrigued by his ability.  I was hoping if I put him into a stressful enough situation, I would get to see the results in the form of a power display.”  Victor said honestly, no reason to hide it, and anticipating Loki would go after Thor and potentially increase the potential for a stressful release of power.  “New York can be rather dangerous at night, particularly for a child.  I suggest you hurry.”  Victor noted and Loki cursed.

He shoved the dagger into Victor’s side, or at least tried, but was startled when Victor was suddenly behind him and walking away.

“You’ll have to try harder than that, Loki.”  Victor informed him, and while the temptation to go after him was immense, Loki resolved to deal with him later as he raced after Thor.

--

Thor was feeling funny again, a mix of heart-sadness and heavy anger and feeling like he should be holding something.  He was confused and hurt, and his mind kept thinking about what he’d seen on the magic picture box.  What if it was true?  It couldn’t be…but what if it was?

Thor wasn’t sure how long he’d been running when he realized there were people ahead of him, and he diverted into the street a moment to get past them but they called to him and he came to an impatient stop.

“Kid, hey kid!”

Thor narrowed his eyes.  “I am not a kid.  What do you want?”  he demanded.  “I must go.”

“Whoa, the mouth on this one.”  There were six men, all seeming to be in their twenties, and they quickly circled around Thor.

“Get out of my way.”  Thor ordered.  “I am a Prince of Asgard, and I have business.”  he said, as authoritatively as he could.  What were these mortals playing at anyway?

“Prince of what?” one laughed.

“Look at his little froggy pajamas.”  Another crooned.

“Your parents know you snuck out, kid?”  Another asked.

Thor glared and made to shove past the men, only to find himself shoved back by one.

“We didn’t say you could leave."

“How…how dare you!”  he mimicked something he’d heard spoken before when someone had done something bad.

The men started laughing and Thor tried again to move past only to be shoved again, but he caught the man’s wrist and yanked him to the ground.

The man looked stunned, and then the others whooped and laughed at him.  “Hey, kid’s a mutant too.”

“Maybe his parents didn’t want him.”

“Entitled little shit though.  Looks clean.”

“Maybe we could get a ransom then?”

“What’s your power, kid?”  one demanded.

“Stop.  Calling. Me.  Kid.”  Thor snarled, angry and on edge, and tempted to forget that he was not supposed to hurt those of weaker races.  These mortal men were being threatening and mean.

“Or what?”

“Or I will fight you!”  Thor informed him, and was met with laughter again.

“Oh, no, I’m quaking in my shoes.”  one mocked.

“Come on, take him inside.”

One of the men glanced around to where a little section of earth and plants were tucked into a median, and he held out his hand as a vine grew from the ground and launched forward to tighten itself around Thor.

But to their surprise, he immediately gave a grunt and yanked the vine apart.

“Ray.”  one of the men said to the other.  “Let’s see who’s stronger, huh?”

Ray, who had super strength for his mutant power, snatched Thor from behind and gripped him.  The boy struggled and to his surprise started to move his arms apart, so he doubled down and the boy was left squirming angrily in his grasp.  “Got him.”

“Alright, let’s go, been loud enough already.”

The vine man brought the discarded vine up and tightened it around Thor’s mouth, and he couldn’t get it off with his arms pinned against him.  The group brought him down an alley, to a side door and down a set of stairs where a dirty, graffiti-tagged room littered with messy furniture, bottles, and cigarettes awaited.

Ray tossed the boy down and he saw the boy stagger before he righted himself with a glare.  “Ooh, tough guy.”

“Not for long.”  One of the other men said.

“You gonna do it, Sleight?”

Sleight, so-called for his knack for sleight-of-hand tricks, grinned as he stepped forward.  “I got it.”  he rubbed his hands together rapidly, clenched his fists, then opened them quickly in Thor’s direction as a dark, powdery substance came from his hands and clouded Thor’s face a moment.

He breathed it in and coughed as he tried to bat it away.  “What-”  Thor felt pulled a moment, like he’d been yanked backwards and then rubber-banded forwards.  When he opened his eyes, the room around him spun a little but what held his attention was a spider larger than he was with gnashing pincers and many beady, black eyes.  Thor stumbled back and fell, and he scooted rapidly back until his back was against a wall.  The spider drew closer and Thor looked for a means of defense or to get away.  But everything around him was spinning, only the spider was in focus and solid, and he felt waves of fear rolling over him.

Sleight had the power to transmit a person’s fears into a projection in the real world, and mess with their perception to heighten their fear and diminish their real-world awareness.  “He’s gonna piss his pants, wait for it.”

The men laughed and watched as the spider slowly drew closer and the boy looked terrified.  When tears fell from his cheeks and he stammered out pleas for his ‘father’, they laughed harder.

Thor couldn’t think straight, couldn’t see straight, but the spider was getting closer and it’s pincers were horrifying and he couldn’t make himself move.  He wanted to go home, he wanted to be stronger, he wanted- “Loki.”  he whimpered.  But no, it was good his brother wasn’t here, it was good he was safe, it was-

“What the Hel is this?”  The voice dripped with fury and the men turned to see a young man in the doorway with curly hair and a braid, dressed in funny leather clothes and looking pissed.

“Good Samaritan?”  One man laughed.

“You walked into the wrong building, sucker.”  Another said.

Thor couldn’t take his eyes off the spider but he heard his brother.  He was so terrified, heightened by Sleight’s power, that he couldn’t think as he normally would and only found relief in his brother’s presence.  “Brother.”  he pleaded.

Loki heard the pleading, saw Thor backed into a corner with a tear-streaked face, his body trembling, his face frightened, and he felt rage.  This was not rage at Thor, this was rage for Thor, and it felt stronger than the former had ever been.  They hurt his brother, who was currently nothing but innocent, still dressed in a child’s pajamas, and they were torturing him with a spider illusion.  Thor was afraid of spiders.

And Thor was pleading for Loki, looking for Loki to save him.

He would make them all pay.

Loki made several illusions of himself even as he hurled a dagger at one of the men and caught him by the throat.  The real Loki tried to dispel the spider illusion but found the power used to form it was strange, it couldn’t be simply knocked away.  Even so, while the men were distracted with his illusions, he slid in front of Thor.  His brother’s eyes were flecked with black pinpricks, something had been done to him, and he could clear those away.  Loki waved his hand with sorcery and the pinpricks were gone.  “Brother.”

Thor blinked as his eyes were cleared, before he looked up at Loki with still-wet eyes.  “Loki!”  he practically launched himself at Loki, who caught Thor in his arms and held him tightly as he crushed Thor in an embrace.

“I have you, brother.”  Loki returned Thor’s words to him.  “You are safe now.”  he heard Thor shudder against him with a little sniffling sob, and his rage only intensified that they had done this to his brother.  How dare they.  Loki shushed Thor soothingly, and decided he would take Thor from the room for a moment, leave him on the stairwell, and then kill the men quickly.  They deserved more painful deaths, but he wouldn’t leave Thor waiting or have the little Thor see that.

Footsteps came behind Loki and he prepared to whirl around when a blast of intense cold hit him.  The man had some kind of ice power, and Loki conjured a shield as he gripped Thor close to protect him.  The shield cracked, the power the men wielded was odd, and the cold blasted Loki who feared for a moment he might be encased in ice temporarily.

Loki looked down at Thor who had pulled back enough to look up at him.  “Thor-”  Thor’s eyes had gone terribly wide, and Thor looked at him with open-mouthed horror and surprise.  “Brother, what is it?”

“Why the fuck is he blue?  What is he?”  A man asked.

Loki heard the words and a chill went down his spine as he tilted to look behind Thor and saw his hand was blue and covered in heritage lines.  “No.”  he whispered as he realized the intense cold must have triggered his Jotun form to bleed through.  His eyes fell on Thor, who was doubtless now seeing Loki with blood-red eyes, blue-lined skin, a frost giant…the monster Thor had been raised to hate and fear.

Thor’s arms fell away from Loki as he stared and pulled back a little, still in Loki’s arms.  “Frost giant.”  Thor breathed.

Loki felt the words like a dagger in his gut and he released Thor quickly, afraid of hurting him with an accidental frostbite touch.  Thor rose to his feet and took a step back as he stared at Loki, and Loki’s heart sank as he lowered his gaze.  He could feel Thor’s eyes on him and he couldn’t stand it.  Loki turned away as he rose and faced the men.  “Thor, I need you to close your eyes, will you do that for me?”   Please agree.   He heard no reply as some of the men came closer and one pulled out a gun.  “Brother, please, close your eyes.  Keep them closed till I say open.  Please, Thor.”  he did not need to seem more a monster than Thor already saw him as.

“O-Okay.”  came the weak reply and Loki bit his lip.

This was the fault of these men, these wretched cretins who would hurt a child, his brother!  Loki found himself faced with the powers, non-sorcerous in nature, but he was no mortal.  He was trained in battle, he was centuries old, he was a sorcerer, a dagger master, a frost giant raised as an Asgardian warrior and prince, and they had hurt his brother.

Loki ruthlessly finished them all off, and he stood breathing heavily more from rage than anything else before he winced and turned to look at Thor who still had his eyes squeezed shut.  “I’m going to lead you upstairs, Thor, keep your eyes closed, alright?”  

"...Why?"  came the quiet question.

"Just...please, brother?"

Thor said nothing and Loki tried to keep himself calm as he put a palm on Thor’s upper back to lead him.  He went nearly breathless with a stab of hurt as Thor tensed and pulled away.  Loki stared down at his brother, who only hours ago could not get close enough to him but now shirked from his touch.  Because this was the reaction to be expected, Loki was a frost giant, a monster…and even the little Thor could not see Loki beyond that.

Loki had intended Thor to suffer by taking his years, but it was Loki suffering now.  He put his hand on Thor’s shoulder and didn’t let him shirk away as he led him to the stairs and closed the door behind them.  “You can open them, and then keep walking.”

Thor’s mind struggled to process what had happened and what he’d seen.  Loki had come for him, he got between Thor and the big spider and held him.  He had been so relieved, but then…Loki became a frost giant?  His brother did not deny it, and Thor saw the red eyes where green should be.  Victor had told Thor that Loki did bad things…was he a frost giant?

Was that…was that why he did bad things?

But he couldn’t be one, it didn’t make sense…why didn’t their parents come?  Heimdall must know they were in trouble.  Thor had called to his father.  Only Loki had come.

When they reached the top of the stairs, blue flashing lights were present and Loki stayed hidden on the stairwell as he instructed Thor.  “Tell them to take you to Avengers Tower.”

Thor looked back at that and was startled to find that Loki was gone.  “Brother?”  he asked instinctively, but there was no reply.  Mortals came closer and were asking him questions, and Thor could only do as Loki had said and asked for Avengers Tower.

--

The mortals had been loud and asked many questions, and Thor kept repeating to be taken to Avengers Tower.  A call was made, and it was Natasha who ended up speaking to an officer and when she was told the situation, she insisted Thor indeed be brought to the Tower.

When they arrived, Natasha, Tony, and Steve were waiting.

A woman named ‘Pepper’ was also present, and she began speaking to the police with Tony at her side as Natasha and Steve led Thor inside.

They sat him in the kitchen where they wrapped him in a blanket, gave him a warm drink called ‘hot chocolate’ and asked gentle questions about what had happened.

Thor, overwhelmed, mumbled his replies.  There had been a man named ‘Victor’, and he spent the day with his brother.  There was a moving picture box and strange scenes.  He left for Avengers Tower and men had attacked him.  Loki had come and turned into a frost giant, then left Thor and told him to come there.

“What’s a frost giant?”  Steve asked.

“They are monsters from Jotunheim.  They are blue with red eyes, and very big, and they eat children and hate Asgardians."

Natasha took that in for a moment.  They had engaged in a mini-discussion during the conversation where they confirmed what Thor saw on the -t.v.-happened.  That he was supposed to be older, that the Avengers had fought Loki with Thor at their side.  As far as they knew, Thor was bringing Loki home to be put in a cell.  “You told us before that Loki was adopted.”

Thor’s brow furrowed.  “Adopted?”

“Uh…”  Natasha looked to Steve.

“It means…Loki had other parents, but for some reason, your parents wanted him and took him home instead.  Adopting means taking in someone else’s kids and raising them as your own.”  Steve explained.

Thor looked a little stunned by the concept, or perhaps that Loki would be part of it.  "Loki is stolen?"

"Well, uh, not really stolen.  Usually you adopt a kid if...their parents didn't want to raise them...or something happened to those parents..."

“So...Mother and Father…are not…Loki’s mother and father?”

“Well, they are if they adopted him.  But…not…not his first parents.  Your parents adopted Loki from...his first parents.”  he tried.

Thor slumped against his chair at the information.  “Then…we…are not brothers?”  he asked, quietly and gravely.

Steve didn’t want to defend Loki, or encourage Thor to his side but…he didn’t want to lie either or make Thor feel like his brother wasn’t his brother if he wanted him to be.  “Adopted means making him part of your family.  He is the son of your parents now, and he is your brother now.  Adopted isn’t worth less than blood.  I had a best friend who was like a brother to me.  We didn’t have blood, or share parents, but…he was family to me.  Blood doesn’t always make family, Thor.  So…just cause he was adopted, doesn’t mean he’s not really your brother.  But you don’t have to…call him your brother if you don’t want to.”  he didn’t want to force Thor either.

“Frost giants are bad.  They are the…enemies of Asgard.  My Father fought them.  I will fight them one day…but…but if Loki is one…” he trailed off with a miserable expression.

“In my experience, monsters aren’t usually born, they’re made.”  Natasha said as she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.  “Your…brother, isn’t a monster because he was born a ‘frost giant’.”  He was a monster because he was an egomaniac asshole who killed people indiscriminately.  [Natasha naturally didn’t voice that opinion].  “Don’t feel like you have to think of him that way.  You can make up your own mind.  If you want him to be your brother or not.”

"You do not have to share blood?"  Thor asked.

"Nope.  There's family you're born to, and family you choose."  Steve said.  "Loki, uh...can be both, if you want.  Cause your family adopted him but you can also choose him." 

Thor considered the information.  “...Did he hurt a lot of people?”  Thor asked tentatively.

“Yes.”  Natasha said bluntly.

Thor looked glum at that.  “Why?”

“Far as I know, he wanted a throne, and he wanted to beat you.  I don’t know if there’s more than that.”

“The throne?”  Thor was astonished.  Loki wanted to be king so badly he would hurt mortals?  And he wanted to fight Thor?  Why?

“He was trying to be king of Earth.”  Steve seconded.

"But..why?"  Thor didn't understand, what did his baby brother want with ruling Midgard?  Why would he hurt people and Thor for that? 

"I...don't know, buddy."  Steve said sympathetically. 

The conversation went on a while longer, and included Tony and Pepper when they came inside.  Eventually they convinced a troubled Thor to sleep.

--

Loki’s skin soon returned to its aesir appearance, and he went looking for Victor.

Victor was reading at the kitchen table and sipping a drink calmly.

“You ruined everything.”  Loki snarled as he summoned his daggers.  “You put my brother in danger.”

Victor was nonplussed as he glanced at him.  “Did I?”

Loki scoffed at that, infuriated by Victor’s calm, imperious demeanor.

“You wanted him to suffer, didn’t you?  Or perhaps you didn’t really hate your brother after all.”  Victor mused.

“Why do you care either way!”  he demanded, tired of the mortal’s little game.

“Self-doubt makes a poor ally.  And makes a man a poor ally to others.  You have potential, but not wallowing around playing with a child begging for emotional scraps.”

“How dare-”

“-Am I wrong, or does the truth simply bother you?”  Victor asked as he sipped his drink casually.  “I believe you never hated Thor.  An obsession like yours, if it were born of revenge, you’d have taken it already.  It was never revenge you were after.”

“You know nothing of me, and I am not obsessed with Thor.”

“You have nothing, are on the run from the ruler of Asgard, have been in a state of recovery, and yet you focus time and energy not on fixing yourself or your situation…but on Thor.  You rendered him helpless, but instead of harming him, you made pancakes.”  Victor lifted a brow.  “Call it obsession, fixation, desperation, call what it is, you silly child.  You neither hated him nor were indifferent to him, so what is left?”

Loki glared, and knew full well the implication.  “You saw what happened the last time someone called me a child.”

“Yes, you made pancakes.”  Victor said, in a tone that sounded like a smirk.  “If you intend to keep going on like this, you may finish out the week then leave.  If you are inclined to clean yourself up and restore yourself to a state of usefulness, you may stay longer.  You can even bring Thor, provided he doesn’t know where we are.  Now, unless you want to try fighting me, I’ll have to ask you to leave me be.  I have work to finish.”

There was a tense, silent pause and then Loki inhaled as he sent his daggers back.  He gave no reply as he disappeared to his room to think, too uncertain of Victor’s powers-especially in his own home-to risk fighting him.

Loki paced in his room as he picked idly at the hand that had first turned, first revealed his heritage to him.   Thor had seen him, the adult never had but the child had, and he had been horrified.  He wouldn’t want anything to do with Loki now, might even say or do something terrible if he saw Loki again.  And really, there was even less point to keeping Thor as he was then.  But the idea of facing him now...

It was the reaction he’d anticipated at the very least from the older Thor if not to be faced with Mjolnir.  How quickly the little Thor’s seemingly endless affection had turned.

Thor had been so small, so fragile in his arms, so frightened as he sought comfort from Loki.  Was it how Thor had felt all those years that Loki came to Thor for help and comfort?  Thor, ever the strong one, the fearless one, the warm, strong presence.

Loki, the frost giant, the son of Laufey, the monster parents told their children about, the villain of the Midgardians, the criminal of Asgard.

‘Loki No One’s Son’, the Other had called him.  And now he supposed, he truly was ‘No One’s Brother’, because the little Thor would want a frost giant near him.   Plus, he had apparently seen Loki’s attack on New York, and that he’d stolen Thor’s years…what would he even think of that?  It was over, the little, short-lived fantasy that he could hold on to some aspect of Loki Odinson, some part of the fiction he’d been made to live, the idea that he and Thor could be brothers still…it was all over now.

--

Two days had passed, and it was late in the night when Loki teleported into Thor’s room and did his best to interfere with any sensors from the talking security system of Avengers Tower.  He had made up his mind that he would try to undo the spell he’d put on Thor, less easy given that he didn’t know what had gone wrong.

Loki found Thor curled up in his bed, a child by all appearances, and Loki sighed.  Thor would grow, and be his enemy again, and really the best thing would be to keep away from Thor.  It was probably best if they never saw each other again.  For the best…

Loki moved quietly and slowly as he reached his hand for Thor’s head and prepared to try a spell, but he froze as Thor stirred and then blinked sleepy, blue eyes up at him in the dimly illuminated room.

“...Loki?”

Loki cursed and stepped back as he prepared to teleport.

"Loki!”  Thor exclaimed and he nearly fell off the bed in a rush to grab at Loki, who instinctively caught Thor.  The latter climbed out of bed and gripped Loki’s sleeve.  “You came back.”

Loki was confused by the reaction, but he was too anxious to stay, too afraid of what Thor would say or do, the finality of a true rejection.  “I’ll go-”

“No!  Wait!”  Thor insisted again as he hit the button on the nightstand that turned the lights on.  He looked up at Loki, surprised to see that his hair was still curly and the braid was still present.  “Oh, you kept it.”

It took Loki a second to realize what he meant and he felt his heart racing.  Why was he having such a reaction?  He needed to leave, he should go.  “You put it in.”  he heard himself say lamely, a useless sentiment, an unnecessary admission.

Thor stared up at him and Loki knew he needed to leave, to run far away from whatever was coming.  "...You were blue...and your eyes were red..." 

Loki inhaled slowly as he gave a slight nod but said nothing more, his throat felt thick.

“Are you…a frost giant?”  Thor asked with a troubled expression. 

Loki choked as he took a step back.  He couldn’t bear the question, couldn’t bear Thor’s eyes on him, that he had seen, that he had been horrified, that he was asking so casually about a thing that so ripped Loki apart.

Thor heard no reply and saw Loki step back, and feared he was going to leave again.  But since Loki didn’t say ‘no’, he figured it was a ‘yes’…he darted to the corner desk and grabbed something that he shoved into Loki’s hands.  “Here.”  he said quickly.

Loki felt a faint tremble in his hands as he met Thor’s eyes and then slowly brought his gaze to the paper he’d been handed.  It was a colored drawing of Thor holding hands with Loki, albeit that Loki was colored half as an aesir and half as a frost giant.  He had again captioned it ‘Thor’ and ‘Brother’.  Loki stared at the drawing, momentarily dumbfounded, before Thor addressed him and he looked back down at him.

“They told me you are...adopted."

"...Oh?”  Loki asked, his voice weak to his own ears.

“Yes.”  Thor said with an air of gravity.

“...And what is it you think that means?”

“Well…a different mother and father had you first…but then our Mother and Father took you home.  And they made us brothers.  But we do not have to be brothers because of that.  Or because of blood.”  Loki felt a sinking feeling at those words, and confusion given the drawing.  “But that we could if we want to be.  We can choose.”  he explained.

“I see.”  he couldn’t bring himself to move or say more, and Thor fidgeted anxiously.  Was Thor nervous?  Probably because Loki was a frost giant, he must be pushing himself.  Loki took a step back and Thor, strangely, got a hurt look on his face as he stepped closer.

“Do not leave.”  Thor said, and sounded anxious too as he grabbed Loki’s coat in a tight fist.

"...Thor...I..."  Loki trailed off and Thor kept staring, he felt his heart racing and it took everything in him not to teleport away, to flee the moment and his brother's gaze.

"Are you really adopted?"  Thor asked as he kept hold of Loki's coat.

The question made Loki grimace and he bit his cheek a moment before he made himself speak.  “Y-Yes…and I...am a...frost giant, Thor.”  he choked out.  “I…I was born of…Laufey.”  To call himself such, and to admit out loud he was born of Laufey made his insides twist painfully.  Loki never wanted to make such an 'admission', and he didn't want to face Thor's reaction.

Thor’s eyes widened at the familiar name of their father's great enemy.  “King Laufey?”  Loki nodded, and Thor couldn’t believe it.  “Laufey is your father?”  Loki winced at that, Thor had called Odin and Frigga ‘our’ parents, but now said Laufey was Loki’s father…well, perhaps he read too much into that.

“Technically.”  he hedged, not that he would claim Odin his father either anymore.  "I do not...consider him my 'father'...but..."  he trailed off again as his hands clenched at his sides.

“Then you are…a prince of Jotunheim?”

Loki felt like fingers were clenching sharp nails into his heart.  “Technically.”  he whispered.  "I do not think of myself that way either though...for as long as you have known me, I did not know I was...that."

“...Do you hate me?”  Thor asked after a long pause, and Loki’s eyes widened.

“What?  Why…why would you ask that?”  Of all things to ask, he had not expected that.

“Is that why you made me little?  Is it why you hurt the mortals?  Lady Natasha said you wanted a throne.  And that you wanted to beat me.”  Thor sounded anxious.

He nearly scowled at that, but mostly it filled him with dread to hear the little Thor speak of it.  What was he to say?  “I do not hate you, Thor.  I never could.”  He had deluded himself into thinking otherwise but in truth…however much honest resentment and bitterness he’d had…he could not truly hate his brother.  The one person who’d always stood with him, who had been there most moments of Loki’s life.  “But…I did want to hurt you.  And I…wanted to rule Midgard.”

Thor’s grip on Loki’s coat loosened as he slumped and his hands fell to his side.  “Why would you want to hurt me, Loki?”  he sounded so hurt, and coming from the little Thor, it felt more cutting than any jab or accusation.

“...Because you hurt me, brother.”  Loki said as he resigned himself and sat down in front of Thor, who met Loki’s gaze with confused, wide eyes.

“I did?  …When I was bigger?”

“Yes.”

“...But…I would never hurt you, brother…”

Loki didn’t miss that Thor had called him ‘brother’, and a little flicker of hope flared despite himself.  “I think you did not always mean to.  But you did.  And then I found out I was…adopted.  And I was…”  he trailed off.

Silence lasted a few seconds until Thor ventured to ask.  “Sad?”

Loki’s eyes welled up instantly, and he blinked in surprise.  “I…well, that…” he let out a small gasp as Thor stepped into his loosely formed lap and wrapped tight arms around his neck.

“I do not understand everything…but…I choose that you are my brother…you are Loki, so you are my baby brother…and I love you.  I am sorry I hurt you, brother…please do not leave again, okay?  I will take care of you forever.  So do not be scared.”  Thor kissed Loki’s temple and then set their heads together as he rocked them slightly side to side.  And then he added as a reluctant after thought.  “Unless…you do not want me to…"

Loki had thought only of the worst possible reactions.  He had not really dared to think the little Thor would accept him as a frost giant, let alone treat him kindly.  The words lanced him through the heart and he suddenly wanted to keep Thor close, to make sure he didn't lose this precious sliver of connection.  Loki pressed his lips together tightly before he took Thor in his arms and held him.  “I choose you too, if you will…if you will have me.  So…”  he felt Thor squeeze his neck and he coughed.  “Thor.”  His brother got the message and loosened up a little, but Loki likewise understood.  Thor wanted to be brothers still.  Even as a child, knowing Loki was an adopted frost giant, he still easily wanted Loki by his side.  The great, lovable little oaf.  “I love you too, brother.”  he murmured.  He hesitated before he said.  “I thought…you were scared of me…”

Thor pulled back to look at Loki as he pressed their foreheads together and blue eyes met green.  “It was…a little scary at first…”  he admitted.  “But Lady Natasha said um…that monsters are made, not born…and being born a frost giant does not make one a monster…and I know she is right, because you are not a monster, you are my little brother Loki.”  he smiled.  “And you cannot scare me, brother.”

Loki felt the words to his core and his eyes brimmed over.  A small hand found Loki’s cheeks as Thor brushed his tears away gently and then rubbed their noses together again.  Loki returned the gesture this time, and kissed Thor’s cheek.  The boy’s smile brightened.  “My brave big brother.”  he offered in a murmur and Thor seemed to preen a bit at the ‘praise’.  Loki was not a monster because he was 'Loki', but what did that mean?  Loki was the name given to the fictional son of Odin, so what did it mean for Loki to claim it and for Thor to accept him that way?  Who was Loki to be?  Clearly Thor thought Loki his 'little brother' in any case.

Thor thought of something then as scrunched his nose.  “Will you make me big again?”

Loki’s own smile slipped at the question and he felt a desperate urge to say ‘no’, because then this would surely all be lost to him.  The best he could hope for was talking Thor out of sending him for execution, if that.  But how could he say no, especially now that Thor knew?   “If you wish…”

Thor saw Loki’s face get sad again, maybe his baby brother was so sad all the time because he found out he was a frost giant.  Maybe he thought if Thor was bigger, he would not want a frost giant as his brother, but that was silly.  Loki would always be Loki, and he would always be Thor's baby brother.  “I will love you even more when I am bigger, brother.  Do not be sad.”

“Would that it were true.”  Loki murmured with a sigh.

“It is!  And when I am bigger I can carry you again, and give you better hugs.”  Thor explained earnestly, and Loki let out a little, wet laugh.

“Sweet oaf.”  Loki said as he ran his fingers through Thor’s hair.

“Sweet brother.”  Thor corrected as he leaned into Loki's hand. 

“Mmhm.”  Loki offered in reply and Thor scrunched his nose.  He took in the moment, the feeling, the sight of Thor’s warm gaze, the feel of Thor in his arms, and resigned himself again to the inevitable.  “Alright, I will…make you big again.”  he said as he extricated himself from Thor and rose.  Loki hesitated, and Thor rubbed a palm on Loki’s stomach as if to comfort or reassure him.  He smiled weakly and set a hand on Thor’s head as he sought the threads of spell that he’d woven over his brother…

… “Shit.”  Loki breathed, and he frantically began poking at the spell that surrounded Thor as he looked for the start or end of the binding.  But it was a strong circle of magic, somehow the spell on Thor had wound itself tightly around his brother.  That did not mean it was impossible to break but…it wasn’t something Loki could just do unprepared.  Loki had been confident in his control of the situation, this unexpected development put a frisson of fear and anxiety into him.  He had not wanted to lose Thor, the ability to restore him if he chose, and the fact he couldn't do it immediately was worrisome. 

“Brother?”

Thor would never believe him, he was going to hate him.  “Thor.”  he tried anyway as he crouched down and clasped his hands around Thor’s upper shoulders.  “Something has….gone wrong with the spell.  It…I cannot break it right now.”  he said Thor’s expression grow troubled and he hastened to make him believe.  “Thor, I swear to you, it is no trick.  I would remove the spell if I were able.  It will take time.  But I will do it, I will not leave you this way.”

Thor seemed to be measuring his words and searching Loki’s face.  And Loki waited under his brother’s scrutiny for his judgment.

Loki looked upset, and he even said ‘I swear’, and Thor just…well, he believed his brother.  He did not think Loki was lying to him.  “I believe you, Loki.  Do not worry.”

Trusting at any age, so trusting, and Norns be praised for that.  Loki cupped his brother’s chin and cheek as he brushed a thumb against it.  “I will fix this.”

“I know you will.”  Thor reassured his brother, he did not want him to be sad or cry again.  

"You trust me that much?"  Loki asked quietly.

Thor tilted his head as though a little puzzled by the question.  "Yes.  You are a good brother."  he reassured Loki.

Loki felt a pang at that as he regarded the loving, trusting little Thor before him.  "And you are better than I ever knew, Thor...I...am sorry I thought otherwise."

Thor didn't really understand what Loki meant, but he figured it was alright, Loki wasn't trying to leave or seeming so sad anymore.  "Do not worry, little brother."  He gave Loki’s braid a playful, gentle tug before he fluffed the ends of Loki’s hair.

Loki watched Thor’s face as he did so, and saw Thor’s little smile and contented look.  “Should I keep my hair like this for you?” he offered softly.

Thor looked hopeful and Loki found himself chuckling.  “Yes?  I like it this way!  It is nice.”

“Very well.”  he agreed, and Thor looked so delighted that Loki couldn’t help but lean down and squeeze the boy in a hug.  How quickly things had changed.  Loki had gone from being alone and filled with rage to feeling like Thor was a lifeline, a source of love and warmth to illuminate the shadows Loki was mired in.  His brother as ever.

--

The next day Loki, with Thor persistently clinging to his side, spoke with the Avengers.  They seemed as though they would be glad to deliver him to Asgard themselves, but it wasn’t an option anyway.  He made it clear that the spell with Thor was troubled, delicate, and needed Loki to be fixed.  Loki pointed out he could have taken Thor and never let them see him again, but he was willing to stay at Avengers Tower at least until he could figure out how to fix Thor.  And then they would all see what Thor would do.

Fury had been, in a word, furious and perhaps was half-ready to come after Loki himself.  But they talked him down.  Thor was their friend and ally, and murdering a technical prince of Asgard was an intergalactic incident they didn’t need on them.

A clear change had come over Loki, visible in snatches when Thor addressed him and there was no decent way to couch his reactions.  He was damn near indulgent when it came to Thor, and Thor too was different from his older counterpart.  Thor was excitable, chatty, warm, curious, and very physically affection [mostly to Loki].  He seemed to still tend to treat Loki as a child despite knowing they were both older, and whatever he thought of what he’d learned of Loki’s misdeeds, he seemed more invested in taking care of Loki.

A reluctant, tense truce came between Loki and the Avengers, and Loki was given a cell phone to share with Thor and taught how to use the ‘oracle’.  Loki first had to teach himself to read and write in English, which he learned [alarmingly] quickly.  Thor seemed rather proud of that fact, and kept repeatedly bragging about how clever his brother was.  Rather than a sarcastic expression at the words, Loki seemed to end up smiling without realizing it, and sometimes his hand would find its way to ruffling Thor’s hair or resting on his shoulder.

Loki, as part of the conditions for his temporary residence at Avengers Tower, had to help whenever asked with whatever mission was at hand.  And at that, despite his snarky attitude, he was very useful at.  Thor would rarely tolerate Loki from his sight, but he was too young and inexperienced to actually join missions.  As a compromise, Thor would wait nearby with Shield Agents and a protection shield from Loki.  The latter seemed to enjoy the way Thor would gush afterwards about whatever Loki had done.  Clearly Loki was not immune to praise from the little Thor.

Loki had found Victor’s little data device quickly, and he ended up returning it as well as having a conversation.  Victor offered Loki to come back should he need to, provided he was willing to do more to earn his keep.  And Loki held that in the back of his mind.

He wasn’t sure if Heimdall knew what had happened, but the Bifrost was still broken, he was sure of that.  And he doubted anyone of Asgard would be coming anytime soon either way.

Thor and Loki shared a room, and it was a little overwhelming to have a near-constant presence at his side.  But he couldn’t usually bring himself to be annoyed, and instead let himself relish Thor’s dedication.  Although Thor was fond of his new mortal friends, Loki held the majority of his attention and affection.  He didn’t dislike it.

Jane and Darcy occasionally stopped by.   Jane had been skeptical that Loki couldn’t fix Thor [much as the Avengers had been], but time spent in the company of Loki with Thor doting on him and Loki being soft in return had an impact.

Loki knew he’d given things away here and there, but had not realized how much.

Steve had, it turned out, been able to lift and move Mjolnir to the surprise of Loki and Thor and Mjolnir had been placed aside to await Thor’s reclaiming of her.  Naturally when Thor found out, he’d wanted to try, and lo and behold Thor had been able to lift her.  He hadn’t figured out how to summon lightning or utilize the wind, but he could certainly do damage nonetheless.  Loki still insisted [cajoled] Thor not join the fights.

Without access to the libraries of Asgard, Loki had limited magical tomes to review, but Natasha said they’d see what they could do about finding magical aid on Earth.

The brothers Odinson would stay in Avengers Tower in the meantime, and Loki let himself hope that Midgard at least was safe from Thanos for now.  Loki would not let the Mad Titan have his brother, no matter what.