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Thor opened his eyes and blinked sheepishly at the people stood over him; 3 concerned faces, and one man with facial hair who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Their mouths opened and closed, sounds came out that Thor didn't understand, and he knew they were speaking, but could find no meaning in the noise. Suddenly everything snapped back into place, and he recognised Natasha kneeling beside him, saying his name.

"Thor? Thor? Are you OK? How do you feel?" she asked, a note of concern in her voice at his brief lack of reaction.

"How long was I out?" he asked as he sat up, and immediately regretted the decision.

"About 30 minutes," Stark replied. "So I guess we can consider this test a complete success."

"Indeed," the god replied.

The plan was a simple one: they had a cell where Loki's powers would be disabled, the problem was how to get him into that cell without him turning into plague of locusts or simply vanishing into a puff of green smoke. They had to somehow render Loki unconscious for long enough to get him back to the cell, but since they had rarely managed to land a blow on the trickster in all the times they had fought him, the avengers were at a loss how to do this.

Everyone had looked to Tony Stark to come up with an invention, some wonderful new weapon, but everything he tried failed... until the day he watched Thor, bored and looking for something to do, decide to help the gardeners and accidentally ran the lawn mower over its own power cable. The electric shock had knocked him clean out.

Stark sat by Thor's bed as he woke.

"Thor, are you seriously telling me you can be damaged by a little bit of electricity?"

"Apparently so," Thor replied. "It was much like when Darcy rendered me unconscious with the small box with wires when I first arrived on Midgard."

"Wait... A taser? YOU, the god of thunder, who can bring lightening down from the skies, can be tasered?"

"It was surprising to me also that such a small thing could effect me so much."

"And you never thought to share this information before today? That you guys aren't completely invulnerable."

"I am sorry Tony."

"Never mind, I gotta get back to the lab and work on this, you get better big guy!"

It hadn't taken Tony long to create his giant taser, which he called the "The God Killer" until Thor had found out, stormed down to the workshop with Mjolnir in hand, and threatened to pound every one of his precious cars into dust. Tony hastily renamed it "The God Sleepinator" which Thor agreed sounded much more pleasant.

Tony had thought it was now just a case of waiting for Loki to show up and cause some mayhem as usual, but Thor insisted the device be tested before he would allow it to be fired at his brother. The first test had not gone well.

"Stark! You cannot fire this weapon at my brother!" Thor shouted, looking at the remains of a frozen Turkey, blackened and smoking, which were scattered around the room.

"OK, OK, we can dial back the power a little..." attempting to calm the enraged god.

"I do not wish to see my brother harmed. Although I fear we shall require many more Turkeys before the end of this day," Thor said, stamping towards the door. "I shall inform the Son of Coul."

It took 4 more Turkeys and a joint of ham that had been intended for dinner on Sunday, the only thing left in the freezer, before things stopped exploding.

"So you think this will work?" Steve asked, as Tony held out the large gun that looked curiously like a super-soaker water cannon.

"Well, I don't think it will cook him," Stark replied. "It might leave him a little charred..."

"Tony," Natasha said, "We have to know if this thing is really going to knock him out, the last thing we need on our hands is Loki pissed off because you set fire to his cape."

"I will volunteer," Thor said from the doorway, and everyone jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Don't be ridiculous, Thor," Tony said. "You have no idea what this will really do to you."

"Aye," he replied, "And do you really think I would allow you to fire that weapon at my brother without finding out first?"

After testing the weapon on Thor, it was another two weeks before Loki had finally turned up. Everyone had sat around, anxious, hoping today would be the day they would get the call about his latest prank, so when news finally reached them that the Statue Of Liberty was now wearing a gold horned helmet the team breathed a sigh of relief.

Thor had reported no ill effects from having the Sleepinator fired at him, bar a little confusion and dizziness when he woke, so as they traveled on the Quinjet down to Liberty Island Tony, Natasha and Clint grinned at each other, excited at the prospect of seeing what the weapon could do and finally bringing Loki down.

Loki stood at the base of the statue, smiling at his latest handiwork, aware that his brother had arrived, but not turning to face him.

"Hello Thor. Have you come to see my beautiful creation?"

"Loki, you know the mortals like their statues, turn it back."

"Why? When I am ruler of Midgard ALL statues will bear my face," Loki snapped at him, finally turning to face him.

Thor was struck by Loki's appearance, he was far too thin, and had dark smudges under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Loki, you look unwell, my brother. You need to stop these childish pranks."

"You got him?" Iron Man asked Clint, who had the weapon aimed at Loki who was too busy screaming insults at his brother to notice.

"Yup."

He pulled the trigger. A burst of white electricity poured forth and hit the trickster square between the shoulders. Loki's entire body immediately went tense, every muscle close to bursting, his mouth clamped shut and as Clint let go of the trigger he collapsed forward. A pained shriek escaped his lungs as he hit his knees then tried to scramble back to his feet, blood running down his chin from his bitten tongue.

The team panicked, Loki was still awake, still moving.

"Jesus Christ Tony! I thought you said this thing would work!" Clint shouted angrily.

"Hit him again!" Tony screamed, and Clint shouldered the weapon, unleashing another blast that hit Loki in the side as he was almost back upright.

Loki screamed in raw agony as the electricity coursed through him again, still attempting to crawl towards Thor who watched him with a pained look on his face. He wanting to run towards his brother and rescue him, but hoped if they could capture him maybe he would be able to talk him round. Perhaps if they had a chance to talk, just maybe he could have back the Loki he knew and loved, rather than the grinning, rageful demon he had become.

"Thor," Loki moaned as the blast ended, every nerve ending still singing in pain, his eyes wide and full of distress as finally he collapsed unconscious at his brother's feet.

Thor had carried Loki onto the Quinjet, Clint following close behind, watching for signs of consciousness, but none were forthcoming. They removed Loki's helmet, placed him face down, his hands behind his back and Thor placed Mjolnir on top of them.

"You sure that thing can hold him down if he wakes up?" Natasha asked.

"Aye," Thor replied. "Loki cannot escape from Mjolnir."

Despite Thor's confidence everyone sat nervously, watching Loki's slack features for signs of life, signs of movement, any sign that the unconscious god might be stirring.

A twitch.

Steve thought his eyes were playing tricks on him as he saw Loki's eyes move behind his still closed lids. It happened again, a twitch of the nose.

"Guys. He's waking up!"

Clint leveled the weapon again, preparing to shoot, as Thor clambered down from his seat to kneel next to his brother, running his fingers through his tousled hair in a calming manner.

"Brother, you are safe, do not fight."

Loki's eyes snapped open, his hands scrambling for freedom, and his face filled with terror as he realised he was trapped. His body started bucking under the weight of the immovable hammer, whimpers coming from his open mouth.

"Loki," Thor tried again, "I am here, do not be scared. I will let no harm come to you."

Panic gripped Loki, a stream of liquid appearing from between his legs which then started kicking and twisting as he attempted to free himself, he flailed wildly, brought his head back and smashed his forehead into the deck.

Everyone jumped and attempted to hold his wriggling body down. Natasha received a brutal kick to the ribs for her efforts at pinning his legs until Tony, Thor and Steve attempted to prevent Loki from injuring himself further. They couldn't hold him, terror doubling Loki's already formidable strength, a cut opened up over his left eyebrow as he brought his head down again with a sickening thump, blood spilling down his face, and dripping copiously onto the floor.

"The weapon!" Thor shouted desperately. "Discharge it again!"

Hawkeye put his finger on the trigger nervously, unsure what to do.

"No!" Steve shouted. "This is practically torture! This isn't what I signed up for!"

"It is the only means we have to prevent my brother injuring himself further."

"Take the hammer off him, if he escapes then he escapes. We lost control of this situation the second he didn't go down the first time we fired it," Steve shouted.

Thor looked at Tony, awaiting a response and Stark nodded tensely. He removed one of his hands from the back of his struggling brothers head, and everyone jumped back as the hammer was removed.

Half expecting Loki to stand up and blast them all into sub atomic particles, they were surprised when he merely dragged himself, as if unable to control his limbs, to the darkest corner of the room, and forced himself into a tiny gap under a control panel.

"Did he just piss on my flooring?" Stark asked, looking at the wet patch Loki had left behind.

"Why the hell didn't it work on him?" Clint finally snapped, his anger finally rising to the surface.

Thor and Steve ignored the argument and crept over towards the corner where Loki was curled into himself as much as his bulky armor would allow, with his cape wrapped round himself, defensively. His entire body shook with fear, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the cloth as the two men approached, and he whimpered in fear when Thor calmly reached out and placed a large hand on his knee.

"I am sorry, brother," Thor said gently. "This should not have happened."

The Captain placed his hand comfortingly on Thor's shoulder and Loki jumped at the sudden movement, pulling his hand away from Thor's and crying as he dragged the cape over his face.

*

It had been 4 days since Thor had gently carried Loki, wrapped in his cape, into the Avengers mansion and his condition had changed little. Thor had not left Loki's side since the first night, when he had been called down to the cell to calm his brothers screams when he had awoken alone in the dark. Thor had climbed into the bed with him, and held him till he slept. Eventually a larger reinforced bed had been brought in when it was realised the small single bunk would not be large enough or strong enough to hold both their weights comfortably or safely.

Dressed in SHIELD issue prison scrubs, with his hair falling round his face in dark waves, Loki's eyes wandered aimlessly around the cell, focusing on very little apart from his brother cradling his pale thin hand in his own, gently brushing a thumb over the bony knuckles and then up to Thor's face as he spoke.

"You must drink, brother," Thor said, holding up the cup, taking the straw between his lips, and sucking on it gently before swallowing with an exaggerated gulp.

He placed the straw between Loki's lips, pursed his own lips and sucked in, attempting to mime the action. He smiled as he saw water starting to move up the straw.

"Well done Loki, you are doing so well today," Thor beamed, but his face dropped as the water reached Loki's mouth and dribbled out the sides without swallowing. The frustration at his brothers lack of understanding seeped out of every pore, but instead he placed a hand on Loki's shoulder and said, "We will try again soon. You should rest now, you look tired."

He pulled back the sheets and Loki crawled under them obediently. He needed little encouragement to rest, but despite sleeping for around 18 hours a day Loki still looked exhausted. Thor pulled the green cape up over his brother like a blanket and sat back in his chair, returning to his constant vigil.

The doctors had said many words Thor did not understand when explaining what might have happened to Loki - Traumatic brain injury, Retrograde amnesia, procedural memory, hippocampus, temporal lobes - but the word he heard the most was MIGHT, what might be the problem. Thor knew if they didn't know what the problem was, they didn't know how to fix it. The only reassurance they had was that his brother might eventually recover his memory spontaneously in time.

In time...

Gods had nothing but time, but Thor was impatient, he missed his little brother, his razor sharp mind and his taunting laughter. It had only been 4 days and already he missed the anticipation of seeing what Loki's next grand scheme or ridiculous plot would be and here he was, his brother an empty shell.

*

A week later and Loki had mastered drinking from a cup with a straw. He no longer jumped or hid when someone walked into the room, and allowed Thor to feed him apple sauce from a spoon. He appeared to be taking more interest in what was going on around him, but showed no indication that he understood anything other the tone of someones voice or the basic miming of actions.

The medics were still worried Loki wasn't eating, and Thor had told them his brother had gone longer than this without eating before, and mumbled something that sounded like "lips sewn shut" before promising he would try to get Loki to eat solid food.

Steve walked into the cell with a tray and set it down on the table before settling into a chair next to Thor.

"Right, we've got waffles and ice cream. I thought we should start him on something you know he likes," he said.

Thor nodded, pushed a spoon in to Loki's hand, showing him how to hold it, and then picked up a spoon himself, took a spoonful of ice cream and put it in his mouth.

"Hmmmm tastes good," he hummed, as Steve held Loki's hand and helped him gather a big spoon of ice cream. "Now you try some."

Loki blinked, glancing between Thor, Steve, and the awkwardly held spoon in his hand, and then hesitantly raised it to his mouth.

"That's it..." Steve said, smiling as Loki drew the spoon out of his mouth, then promptly dropped it onto the plate with a clatter, clamping one hand over his mouth, and the other on the top of his head, his eyes wide.

"That's cold, ay Brother?" Thor said with a laugh, as Loki snorted and rolled his eyes.

Steve cut the waffles up into small pieces, speared one on a fork, and handed it to Loki.

"How about we try a little of this instead," Loki eyed the waffle suspiciously and Steve spoke in his most reassuring voice he could, "Go on, you'll like it, I promise."

Loki put the waffle in his mouth hesitantly and chewed nervously. His eyebrows shot up, he swallowed the waffle and he smiled.

Steve and Thor sat back in their chairs as one. It was the first time Loki had smiled since the day they had captured him, and rather than his usual smile which was cold, twisted and mocking, there was something so open, vulnerable and genuinely happy about Loki's expression that it brought tears to Thor's eyes.

"Hey, are you OK?" Steve asked. "I think he's getting a bit better."

"Forgive me, Captain," Thor stuttered, wiping at his eyes with the heel of his hand. "It is just that I have not seen my brother happy for some time now, and I did not think I would see him smile so again."

Steve patted Thor reassuringly on the shoulder, and they both watched as Loki polished off the rest of the waffle, hardly able to chew due his ever-present smile.

Later Clint sat idly staring at the monitor showing the feed from the cell. He had watched the brothers for days now, feeling guilty for his part in what happened, then was surprised when Loki jumped up and ran to the toilet, ripping his pants down and sitting quickly as if he had only just made it.

"Errr... who house trained the Norse god?" he asked, turning round in his chair.

"Ohh, you were out on a call when that happened. Coulson did, yesterday," Tony said, and then added, "He watches a lot of Supernanny."

"Ugh... I'm not even going to ask," he said, turning the monitor off.

*

"OK, who decided to have a party and didn't invite me?" Tony said as he walked into the noisy kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. "What the HELL is he doing out of his cell?"

Loki was sat at the table, various half empty plates in front of him, a piece of chicken speared on a fork in one hand, and a spoon in the other. Steve and Thor sat either side of him, while Natasha and Clint were busy by the cooker.

"We were seeing what he would eat," Natasha said, whisking some eggs in a large bowl.

"I wanted to see what happened when we gave him a lemon, but no one would let me," Clint added.

"Oh OK," Tony replied, "And what about the whole super villain, rule the earth, kill all Avengers thing that happen … oh wait when was it... LAST WEEK!"

"Stark, my brother cannot do magic if he has no memory of his spells," Thor stated calmly. "He is no danger to us while he remains in this condition."

"Oh, well that's just fine and dandy then," Tony said sarcastically. "Wait till Fury finds out about this. He's going to live up to his name, and you be sure to tell him I didn't know anything about this."

Tony glared at Loki who stared back at him silently, and then slowly a smile spread over Loki's face.

"Oh wait," Tony said. "Now that's just creepy."

"Tony, knock it off," Steve said as Tony walked round the table. "He hasn't done anything wrong since-"

"This week..." Stark interrupted as he went over and crouched down beside Loki, their faces now level. "Is all this a trick? Are you planning on killing us all in some unspeakably horrible fashion?"

"Stark," Thor said, threateningly.

"What? He can't understand what I'm saying, can you?" Tony said, keeping his voice cheerful, as if he was praising a puppy and putting his arm round Loki's shoulder, snaking a hand up to ruffle his hair. "I could call you a nasty, lying, evil little rat bastard and you wouldn't know what I was saying would you?"

Loki giggled and leant into Tony's body, their heads briefly touching.

"You know what," Tony said, standing abruptly. "If you guys want to be murdered in your sleep that's up to you, but from now on I'm sleeping in my armor."

As Tony stormed out of the room muttering to himself Loki's mouth dropped open, and he glanced between Thor and Steve.

"Don't you worry about him," Clint said, putting a reassuring hand on Loki's shoulder. "He's just grumpy when he's got a hangover."

"Yeah, which is every morning," Natasha said, placing a plate of omelettes on the table.

That night Tony flopped down onto his mattress in his armor and broke the bed.

*

"Brother!" Thor laughed and wiped bubbles from his face.

Loki giggled, gathered another handful of foam from his bath and blew strongly. Loki laughed all the time now, smiled, and made contented humming sounds.  Thor had never seen him so happy.

They had tried to get him to speak the previous evening, the whole team sat around the dinner table full of half empty pizza boxes, and even more empty beer bottles. Spirits were high as they had beaten a small group of blue aliens who ran like monkeys, but had mouths like a sharks, and were hell bent on destroying a department store.

"So there's Bruce, all hulked out and everything," Natasha said, unconsciously miming the actions of her story as everyone listened intently, "And he's marauding through the store after one of these aliens, so I'm chasing after him and suddenly we are in the childrens toy department and Bruce just STOPS dead and picks up this giant PINK teddy bear and starts hugging it!"

Everyone erupts with laugher and Steve exclaimed, "You did not!"

"A Hulks gotta do what a Hulks gotta do," Bruce said smiling and shrugging his shoulders.

"What happened to the creature?" Thor asked.

"I took care of it," Clint added, with a more than a hint of pride.

"I never get to go on any of the good call outs these days," Coulson moaned.

"Yeah, well someone's gotta baby-sit while we go out and be kick ass awesome," Tony said.

They all looked at Loki who was sat between Steve and Thor, delicately picking pepperoni off a slice of pizza, and placing the slices on his brothers plate.

"Loki!" Stark shouted and Loki looked up. "Well look at that, he responds to his name now. I guess he's moved up in intelligence terms from houseplant to pet dog."

"Will you stop being so mean to him?" Steve said. "It's our fault he's like this, and it's up to us now to look after him."

"For how long exactly, because to me it really doesn't look like he's going to be going anywhere for a long time."

"For the rest of his life, if I have to."

"You do realise he's an immortal god, right?" Tony said, waving his beer bottle, "and you like... aren't."

"How do you know I'm not immortal?" Steve said with a smirk. "I've lasted this long."

"You were in ice like a frozen turkey, it doesn't count!" Tony replied with a laugh, opening another bottle of beer. "Oh come on guys, someone get him to speak, teach him to say Mama at least. I would love to see him call Thor that."

They all looked at Loki, and he looked back at them, wide eyed, as if expecting to be told off.

Thor pointed at him and said, "Loki" then patted his own chest and said, "Thor"

He repeated the action and words several times, Loki watched the movements back and forth, and eventually raised his hand to pat his own chest, and then his brothers, a wide smile creeping over his face.

"Can you say ma-ni-ac," Tony said, earning himself a hefty punch in the arm from Steve, who then raised his hand and pointed to Thor.

"Thooorrr," Steve said slowly, emphasizing the sounds and his mouth movements. "Can you say that? Thhhooorrr."

For a second Loki looked like he was going to attempt to speak, his mouth moving until his lip started quivering slightly, and his eyebrows creased into a frown. He threw his pizza down on the plate and sighed noisily as his eye brimmed with tears.

"Hey, its OK," Steve said reassuringly as he placed his hand on Loki's shoulder, and then said to the others, "Maybe it's too soon."

"Yeah, it's pointless upsetting him," Tony said, regretting his earlier baiting when he saw the dejected look on Loki's face.

An hour, and several more beers later, they were all in the rec room playing Guitar Hero and Clint was successfully thrashing all challengers. Even Loki, after much encouragement from Thor, had taken on Steve and shrieked with joy every time he had managed to hit a note.

Later Natasha put a dancing game on the x box and everyone howled with laughter as Thor danced to a Lady Gaga song, his limbs flailing wildly, the floor shaking every time hopped into the air and landed with a thump.

"Go Thor!" Clint shouted, clapping in time to the music, tears of laughter running down his face.

"Thor! Thor! Thor!" everyone chanted as the song reached it climax and he took a flourishing bow.

"Thor!" Loki shouted, and all eyes turned in his direction.

"Thor," he repeated quietly, nodded curtly to himself, and stuffed his mouth full of pizza.

"Well done, my brother!" Thor said slapping his hand on Loki's back who merely shrugged in reaction as if it was nothing and carried on eating. "We will have you back to your old self in no time!"

"My friends!" Thor bellowed, turning to the rest of the avengers. "We must celebrate my brothers glorious accomplishment! More beers!"

"More beers!" Everyone raised their bottles and shouted, as Loki sat on the couch, prodding at Tonys drunkenly discarded cell phone until he accidentally prank called Nick Fury.

Thor was dragged out of his reminiscing and back to reality by another face full of bubbles. Loki giggled as the foam stuck to Thor's beard.

"Thor," Loki cooed contentedly to himself as he splashed his hands down into the water.

A rather hungover looking Tony Stark walked into the room, shook his head and walked back out, then headed towards the kitchen where Clint and Natasha were drinking coffee.

"Does someone want to tell me why two Norse gods are using my hot tub as a bubble bath?" he asked.

"Thor said at home they always take communal baths," Natasha replied.

"Doesn't it strike anyone as a tiny bit creepy that he's in the bath with his brother?"

"I guess that's just how they roll in Asgard," Clint replied.

"If anyone wants me I'll be in my workshop," Tony said, shaking his head and heading out of the room, and then added, "bleaching my brain."

*

A month had passed since Loki had become an unexpected house-mate at the avengers mansion, and they had all become accustomed to his gentle, quiet presence. Even Tony had discovered the delight of showing Loki various pieces of technology and reveled in his awed expression when he saw what they could do.

Steve enjoyed cooking for him, loving it when Loki tucked in with gusto to whatever was placed in front of him and took pride in the fact that he was helping Loki gain weight, so he no longer looked like the wiry, half starved man who was carried into the mansion.

Thor was just happy to have his brother back with him, even though he felt a spike of shame for what they had done to him every time he felt joy in his brothers company. Thor loved the quiet evenings when Loki would fall asleep on the couch, huddled up against his thigh, so he could trail lazy fingers through his brother's hair. He had missed him so much, Loki seemed happier than he had in years and Thor wondered guiltily if perhaps he was better off like this - happy and content, but almost silent, and his knowledge gone, than the despondent, rage filled man he had become in recent years.

*

"I really think we need to go on a shopping trip and buy him some clothes," Natasha had said when Loki padded into the kitchen one morning wearing Steves too short jogging bottoms, and Thor's over-sized T shirt, which swamped him.

"You think we can just take him to the mall?" Tony asked her, peering over his laptop screen. "You don't think people will remember that he is the guy who has been behind just about every wacky thing that's happened in New York for the last year?"

"He could wear a disguise?" she suggested. "Plus people really wouldn't expect to see us hanging out with our arch nemesis anyway."

An hour later Loki was sat next to Natasha and Steve in the back seat of one of Tonys many cars, his hands on the window as he marveled at the sights of the world outside, pointing and shrieking at cars, dogs and children.

"THOR! THOR THOR!" he screamed, as they slowly drove towards a police officer sat on a horse at the entrance of the mall parking lot, forcing his body between the seats so he could get a closer look at the strange animal.

"Aye, Loki, tis a horse!" Thor said from the front passenger seat. "You have ridden many fine horses back home in Asgard."

"And been ridden by them if I've what I've heard is true," Tony quipped, turning the car into a vacant space, earning a glowering look from Thor.

"What's this about a horse?" Steve quietly asked Natasha.

"I'll tell you later," she replied with a grimace.

After getting out off the car Thor pulled out a blue baseball cap and pushed it on Loki's head, pulling it down low over his eyes so his dark hair curled out of the back.

Tony cast a withering glance over Loki, who simply smiled back, pointed at his hat, and nodded.

"This is a really bad idea," Tony said.

Once inside the mall they split up, Steve and Natasha heading towards an entertainment shop to pick up some cartoon DVDs and another couple of X box games, and Thor and Tony went hunting round a mens clothes shop, with a distracted Loki in tow, munching on a cotton candy.

Soon Thor was laden down with armfuls of T-shirts, jeans, jogging bottoms and hoodies that Tony picked out, since he claimed to have impeccable taste, and they headed towards the changing rooms.

"Oh, you look delightful," the female shop assistant said, as Loki came out of the changing room after successfully dressing himself with clashing colours, "But I think you need these pants in a longer leg, should I get some for you?"

Loki looked at Thor, his hands nervously pulling at the hem of his t shirt.

"You will have to forgive my brother, Milady, at present he cannot speak, and does not understand your question."

"Oh..." the woman said, her face knotting with patronizing concern. "He's... special then?"

"Aye!" Thor smiled, clapping Loki on the back so hard he almost knocked him over. "He is indeed very special!"

Tony choked down a laugh and said, "Yes, we'll need the longer pants, thank you."

45 minutes later and they were all bored, it had taken forever to find pants that actually fit Loki since he was both freakishly tall and still on the slim side, but eventually they were done and Thor carted a huge stack of clothes to the register.

Tony feigned shock when he saw the final total and handed over his credit card.

"When you get your magic back I fully expect to be repaid," Tony said, turning round as he finally picked up several bags stuffed with clothes and put his wallet back in his pocket. "Where the hell is he?"

Thor span round, scanning the aisles, and a few feet away he spotted the baseball cap Loki had been wearing, abandoned on the ground.

"Brother!" Thor shouted, hoping the sound of his voice would lure Loki back to him. "Stark, we must find him."

"I knew it was all going too well," Tony said, taking his phone out of his pocket. "I'll ring Steve, get him to come meet us."

His phone started ringing before he could dial a number.

"Oh shit."

The caller ID read "Nick Fury", he showed Thor and the god pulled a face when he saw the name.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you all?" Fury barked down the phone. "We've got reports that Loki has been apprehended in a parking lot outside a mall, so when exactly were you going to tell me he escaped from custody?"

"Oh, ya know, been busy."

"You need to get over there right now and reacquire him."

"Actually, we're already at the mall so I should have him in about 5 minutes."

"What the hell do you mean you're at the mall? I didn't even tell you which mall he was at yet," Fury paused, something clicked in his brain. "Tony... What the hell kind of stunt are you pulling here?"

"I'll explain later, gotta go!" Stark said and ended the call. "Loki is outside, and Fury is pissed, big time."

Thor and Tony raced across the parking lot, joined by Steve and Natasha who had also received a call from Fury. From half way across the lot they could hear Loki screaming as he lay face down near the police horse, his hands cuffed and several mall cops practically sitting on him to hold him down. It took everything Thor had not to smash these men into tiny pieces for hurting his brother.

"We got him for you!" one of the cops shouted, as the avengers approached.

"Get off him RIGHT NOW!" Tony shouted angrily, surprising everyone including himself. "Get those goddamn cuffs off him!"

"Tony, they are only doing their job..." Steve warned, and then turned to the officers smiling. "We'll take him from here guys, if you can just uncuff him, we'll get him back to a nice secure cell."

The mall cops smiled and undid the handcuffs as Steve and Thor bent down to make it look like they were restraining him.

"Thorrr..." Loki wailed, his face stained with tears, a nasty graze on his cheek that was stippled with blood, and he hugged his brother, tucking his head tightly into his neck.

Back in the car on the way home Loki rubbed dejectedly at his sore wrists, then wrapped his arms around his own chest, and laid his head against the car interior. Thor had wanted to sit in the back to comfort his brother, but there wasn't enough room for his massive frame.

"We should give him it now," Natasha said to Steve. "Look at him, he needs some cheering up."

She pulled a bag up that was shoved down into the foot well and passed it to Steve.

"Loki, we got you a present," Steve said as he pulled a bright green stuffed toy dragon out of the bag. Loki seemed to ignore it at first, his eyes shifted right and stole a glance, then looked back once more at the toy. It was made of soft bright green fur, wings of gold, two soft golden horns sat on its head, and its mouth was sewn into a permanent grin.

"Oh my god," Tony said catching a glimpse of it in his mirror, and Steve half expected him to say something sarcastic about how it was a terrible idea to give him a present like that, but instead he said, "That is fantastic!"

Loki took the dragon, running his fingers through its soft fur, and then pulled it towards his chest, tucking its head beneath his chin. He smiled a sad little smile at Steve and Natasha, and started humming gently to himself as he closed his eyes and fell asleep long before they reached home.

It had taken Thor a long time to fall asleep that night, as Loki rolled around in the bed fitfully in his sleep, twitching and murmuring small sounds of displeasure. His thoughts were dragged back to the parking lot, seeing his brother scream as the men held him to the floor, in much the same fashion as he had pinned Loki to the floor of the Quinjet.

Loki had refused all attempts to get him to eat when they came back, and had sat in the rec room clutching his new toy dragon, whispering wordless sounds into its over-sized floppy ears as he gently rocked back and forth in his seat. Steve and Tony had settled onto couches, staring at each other guiltily, at a loss of how to break Loki out of his current dejected state, until Natasha brought in one of the DVDs they had bought at the mall and put it on.

At first Loki had pointedly ignored the film, but the music and bright colors had eventually caught his attention as they watched Disney's Beauty And The Beast, and soon his brief furtive glances at the screen had turned into an unblinking gaze. He appeared to follow the story well enough, even without understanding the dialogue, his lips quivered as the beast died, but he had beamed with happiness as he came back to life and turned into the handsome prince.

Thor felt Loki shift violently in the bed next to him, and turned over to wake him from whatever nightmare was plaguing him.

"Brother, please."

Thor's mouth dropped open as he turned to face one of Loki's clones, in full armor and helmet, stood by the bed with tears rolling down its face.

"Brother, please," it repeated, fading in and out of view, like static on a TV screen, before finally vanishing.

Thor looked at the real Loki, still sleeping next to him, his eyes moving under the lids, as if dreaming. One arm was carelessly thrown outside the bed covers, and Thor noticed small green sparks of magic as he moved his long, thin fingers.

"Please," he murmured in his sleep, and Thor was suddenly terrified. If Loki's magic was returning they would lock him up, cast him back into the cell, and not let him out again.

"Loki," Thor said lowly, gently shaking his brothers shoulders. "Loki, wake up."

Loki opened his eyes and blinked at Thor, his mouth moving. Thor thought he would speak, and for a second hoped he wouldn't, until he realised how selfish that thought was. He pulled Loki into his arms and stroked his hair gently.

"Go back to sleep brother," he said. "I will keep you safe."

Everything seemed normal the next morning. Loki ate a plate full of steaming waffles that were drowning in a pool of syrup, his unhappiness of the previous day seemingly forgotten, but Thor couldn't help but watch him constantly, his brow wrinkling as he searched his brothers face for any increased signs of understanding.

"Are you OK Thor?" Steve asked as buttered his toast. "You haven't even touched your pancakes."

"If I tell you something Captain, can you promise you will not tell the others?"

"Sure," Steve said. "You can tell me, and I give you my word I won't tell anyone."

"My brother spoke in his sleep last night."

"Wow, that's really good news," he replied smiling at Loki. "Maybe he's getting better."

"He..." Thor hesitated, "He also cast magic while he was sleeping."

"Oh. OH..." Steve said.

"You promise you will not tell anyone?"

"He didn't do anything dangerous did he?"

"No, as you know my brother can cast shades of himself, Stark calls them clones? One of those appeared by our bed last night as Loki slept."

"Well, ya know..." Steve said, struggling for words. "As long as he's not blowing things up or turning anyone into a pumpkin I think we can keep this between ourselves for now."

"Thank you Captain!" Thor said, placing his hand gently on Loki's wrist who simply looked up from his waffles and smiled. "My brother and I appreciate it."

"Appreciate what?" Stark asked as he entered the kitchen in his dressing gown, his hair an unbrushed mess.

"I er... cooked breakfast for them," Steve improvised, something that was technically not a lie. "You want some? I still have waffle batter left."

"Food? Before noon? Are you crazy? I'm fine with this."

He poured himself a cup of coffee and then flopped down heavily onto one of the chairs.

"Man, I had the weirdest dream last night," Tony said. "I dreamt Loki was stood by my bed in all that shit he wears when he's attacking us. So freaky."

Thor and Steve looked at each and tried to hide their horrified expressions.

*

Loki jumped and dropped his crayon as Nick Fury slammed his hand down on the table where the participants of the previous days mall excursion were gathered for their dressing down.

"So you're telling me that not only did Loki NOT escape because he was never a prisoner," He shouted as Thor placed a hand on Loki's shoulder and encouraged him to go back to his drawing, "But that you actually TOOK him to the mall."

"He needed new pants!" Tony said.

"Pants? You created an emergency for pants?" he asked.

"Mine were too short for him," Steve added, and Fury threw him an angry look.

"No harm came of it, Fury. There was no injuries or indeed property damage," Thor said, "And we acquired the pants."

"And what happens if he shows up at that mall again, fully powered and ready for action and the same mall cops think they can take him down and get themselves turned into bunny rabbits?" Fury asked.

"Then as they say we shall cross that pontoon- "

"Bridge," Stark interrupted.

"That bridge when we arrive at it," Thor continued.

"Eh... close enough."

"I'm not happy about this," Fury said, as Loki glanced between him and the paper, his tongue stuck out of the side of his mouth in total concentration. "Are you 100% sure this isn't a trick?"

"Forgive me Fury, but my brother has a sharp tongue and I think that, if he were able, he would not be able to resist the urge to smite someone if the opportunity arose."

"Look at him," Natasha said holding her hand up and waving it at Loki. "He's been like that for weeks, he's not faking it and to be honest we kinda like having around now."

"You all like him?" Fury asked incredulously, and everyone nodded. "I still don't like him"

"Well, he likes you," Steve said, holding up Loki's drawing. A childishly rendered, but instantly recognizable drawing of Nick Fury, complete with eye patch, dancing with Loki under a rainbow, in a sun filled meadow.

Loki pointed at Fury and then himself, and smiled.

Exasperated, Fury said, "I give up" but still took the picture home and taped it onto his refrigerator door.

*

The aliens who had destroyed the department store had returned twice that week, their numbers growing with every incursion, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to fend off their attacks.

This time they had been spotted hiding amongst the trees in central park, lurking and observing the passing humans below them, until one of them had been hit by a miss thrown football and plonked unceremoniously to the ground, causing a mass panic among both the human and alien population of the park.

"We are the Neffari," one of them hissed, as they carried their fallen comrade back to the trees. "We grow more powerful every day, we will return to destroy your kind."

Thor had reluctantly left Loki in the care of a medic, as Coulson had been called to co-ordinate their encounter with the Neffari, and the medic simply took Loki to the rec room, put on a DVD for him, placed some paper and his crayons on a tray and walked out, leaving him to amuse himself.

The film ended and Loki prodded at the TV remote randomly, turning the TV on and off several times and then eventually turning it to the cable.

"Thor!" he shouted as an image of his brother appeared on the screen, pointing wildly and looking round the room, wanting to alert someone, but as no one was there he simply moved closer to the TV till his nose was practically against it.

Thor was hitting something blue very hard, as the one who always fed him stood behind him with a red man who had a strange mouth and even stranger eyes.

A lady appeared on the screen, sat behind a desk, her mouth opening and closing and sounds coming out that Loki didn't understand, and then the picture changed again.

This time Thor was stood with a man dressed in green who had black hair. They had angry faces, Loki recognised those easily enough, shouting and then the man in green raised his hand. Thor flew back and landed in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Loki cried out at seeing his brother injured, his hands grabbing at his hair, and then the camera closed in on the smiling face of the man who had hurt Thor. Loki looked at his reflection in the window, and then back at the TV screen several times before he started screaming.

"You left him on his own?" Thor growled as Loki, face and eyes red, muttering hysterically to himself, frantically ran his hands over Thor's body looking for injuries.

"I was only gone a few minutes," the medic lied. "I came straight back when I heard him."

"Do you know what caused this outburst?"

"He somehow turned the DVD off on his own and put the news channel on."

"He saw the attack in the park?" Steve asked.

"No... Well maybe, but they were showing an old tape when I came back in the room, the one from the incident outside the Library about 6 months ago..."

"Oh my god," Steve said shocked. "He saw himself on the TV attacking you."

"Loki," Thor said, holding his brothers shoulders, "I am safe. I am not injured. All is well brother, all is well."

He held his brother close and tried to reassure him that everything was fine.

Loki refused again to eat for the rest of the day, forced Thor to stay with him as he watched Beauty And The Beast for 4 hours, and later that night Steve saw one of Loki's clones heading down the corridor towards the kitchen wringing its hands together and crying, as it walked straight through him.

*

The next time the Neffari attacked Thor refused to help until Fury personally appointed Loki not one, but two personal assistants, tasked with the job of keeping a fully stocked selection of Disney DVDs, ensuring he didn't draw on the walls, and supplying him waffles, pancakes and pop tarts whenever he pointed at his stomach.

The attacks were increasing in numbers and frequency. When cornered the small blue creatures would spit insults and speak of a day that would come soon where they would over run the earth with their numbers, that they were just the vanguard, probing the earths defences and finding weakness.

"These guys like the sound of their own voices way too much," Iron Man said as he blasted another snarling Neffari in the chest and Captain America took out half a dozen of them with one well aimed throw of his shield.

They waited for another wave of the attack, but none came, and the Neffari were gone as suddenly as they arrived.

"Tony!" Natasha cried. "We need help!"

The dust cleared and Tony and Steve were shocked as they saw Thor laying unconscious among the rubble of a destroyed building.

Loki heard the shouts from the hallway before he saw anything, people running past the door, a flash of red as a trolley was wheeled by, and Natasha entered the room.

"Loki, everything is going to be OK," she said soothingly, raising her hands and then noticing they were stained with blood. She directed Loki to sit down. "Thor got hurt, but he's going to be just fine OK..."

"Thor," Loki said nervously.

"The doctors just have to help him and then you can see him OK? He's going to be better in no time," she said, holding a hand up to Loki's cheek, her voice cracking with emotion. "I really wish you could understand what I'm saying."

Thor lay unconscious on the bed as Natasha brought Loki into the medical bay. He rushed over and grabbed Thor's hand, holding on as if he would fall if he let go.

"Thor?" he said, poking his brother in the chest as Natasha brought him over a chair and pushed him to sit beside his brother. She ran her hand comfortingly across his shoulders.

"He's going to be just fine," she said.

An alarm went off. An explosion. Suddenly the air outside the windows of the medical bay was thick with dust and people were screaming.

Natasha ran to the door, shouting, "What the hell is going on?" to the nearest person.

"We're under attack!" a SHIELD operative shouted back at her as he continued running down the corridor with a machine gun. "The Neffari, they followed you home"

Natasha was torn, she wanted to run after him, towards the sound of screams and gunfire, but as she looked back at Loki who was intently holding his brothers hand, not even flinching at the sounds of the loud explosions, she knew she couldn't leave him. It was in her nature to fight, to defend the poor and helpless who couldn't fight for themselves, and right now Loki and Thor were the most defenceless people in the building.

She closed the door, dragging a bedside unit up against it, putting her shoulder to a medical supplies cupboard till it fell against the door too.

"Loki, we need to hide," she said, trying to pull his hand away from Thor's, but his grip was absolutely unyielding, his eyes unblinking as he concentrated completely on his brother like there wasn't another person in the whole world.

"You need to get up NOW!" she shouted again, trying to prize his fingers from around his brothers and that was when she noticed it. Glowing green energy, flowing from Loki's hand to Thor's. She ripped her hand away, letting the contact between the brothers reconnect and watched in awe as the cuts on Thor's face healed, the flesh knitting itself back together with crackling green sparks.

Loki let go of Thor and brought his hand up to his own face. His head flew back, breathing in a ragged breath as if he had been underwater for too long and had just hit the surface. He grabbed the chair arms, his knuckles turning white as he allowed his head to flop forward again till it was hanging over his knees.

Natasha didn't dare move, watching Loki's chest heave as if he had just run a marathon and then he raised his head slowly, looking her dead in the eye and grinned.

"You're back," she stated simply.

"Yes indeed, it appears that I am."

"So what happens now?"

"Well, first I have to destroy the interlopers who are attempting to steal my playthings."

Loki stood up and Natasha jumped back as he waved his hand, there was a blinding flash of green light and she expected Loki to be gone when it cleared, but instead he stood in front of her still, his horned helmet in one hand, in his full armor.

He leant over, swept Thor's blond locks back and kissed him on the forehead.

"Thank you for your care brother," he said, straightened up, slicked back his hair and put his helmet on. He then turned to Natasha and said, "If you will excuse me."

With one movement of a finger the bedside table and medical cupboard flew away from the door, hit the ceiling and smashed against the floor not more than a few inches from the bed where Thor lay, showering him and Natasha with splinters and debris.

"Loki!" Natasha shrieked, wiping dust and shards of ceiling tile from Thor.

"I believe I am a little out of practise," Loki said with a grimace.

"Is it safe to leave him here?" she asked, motioning to Thor.

"Quite safe," Loki said prodding his finger into the air, encountering a solid barrier, shaped like half a sphere that shimmered green like a thousand fireflies where he touched it.

"Couldn't you have done that BEFORE you dropped the ceiling on him?"

"Yes, of course," Loki said and then he grinned, "But where's the fun in that?"

"You're crazy," Natasha said.

"Compliments will get you everywhere, Miss Romanoff," Loki said, holding out his hand, a glint in his eye. "Come, the battle awaits us."

Natasha took Loki's hand and together they went out into the corridor, towards the sound of gunfire.

The corridor was filled with toy animals, every one of them a former Neffari soldier. Bunnies, teddy bears, cats, birds, all bright colours and soft fur. The air was heavy with dusty stuffing that floated around from the particularly large and aggressive alien that Loki had turned into a toy horse and then ripped to shreds with his bare hands.

Natasha was unused to having so little to do in a fight, normally she would never allow herself to follow a man like a damsel in distress, she would be the first to jump in and attack the enemy, but there was nothing for her to do as they were surrounded by a protective bubble of Loki's magic and this was just so much damn fun to watch.

Briefly she wondered if Loki had been holding back all the times he had fought them, sure he could do a lot of damage and had injured them on more than one occasion, but watching him here, tearing up the enemy with such absolute ease, it crossed her mind that perhaps he had never meant to kill them.

She watched him closely, noting that his expression, despite having back his magic and memories, had not returned to being the same twisted mask of rage and grinning evil. They had fought many times and the one thing that had always caused Loki's downfall and his failures was his own emotional instability. His tendency to be distracted from his grand and well thought out plan by his own insecurities.

That was gone now, replaced by a look of pure confidence in his abilities and he was formidable. She pitied anyone who had to face Loki now and prayed that day would never come for her.

The building lobby was clear now. Unstuffed toy carcasses lay in a heap of plush surrounded by alien technology that Loki knew Stark would have a field day investigating later.

"You will have to forgive me Miss Romanoff," Loki said as they stood by the exit to the courtyard. "Things will have to be a little more... gruesome outside if they are to be dissuaded from attacking Midgard and that is no place for a lady."

A flash of light and Loki was outside the glass door. Natasha put her hands to the door and pushed against it uselessly.

"Loki let me out, I'm no lady, I'm a soldier too," Natasha shouted, slamming her hands against the glass.

"A warrior you may be, but your courtesy and kind treatment over these weeks show that you are indeed a lady too and I would not wish you to see what I must do now lest it change your opinion of me."

"Loki please," she begged

"Goodbye Miss Romanoff," he said and turned, his cape fluttering impressively as he stalked away.

Iron man and Captain America fought back to back, attempting to fend off the Neffari soldiers, but also to get to the grinning creature, two foot taller than his companions who appeared to be directing the attack.

"You will never defeat us!" the beast roared. "Our numbers increase every day as more of our ships arrive. Soon this planet will be ours for the harvesting!"

His repulsors glowing, Iron Man took out another of charging aliens, and Steve raised his shield to block another laser attack and then watched bewildered as the bolt stopped in mid air, flashing green and then dissipating.

"What the hell?" Iron Man said and Steve went to say something, but was forced to cover his face as a light brighter than the sun temporarily blinded him.

"Good afternoon gentleman," Loki said as he appeared before them. "Do forgive the intrusion, but it looked like you required some assistance."

"What the hell is going on?" Stark asked, his visor shooting back.

"My brother is indisposed and I have been restored to full health," Loki said, noting with some disquiet the way they both took a step back from him as if scared. "Now, I believe these creatures need to be destroyed."

Loki turned away from his friends and stalked towards the towering leader of the aliens.

"You have traveled a great distance to taste defeat," Loki said menacingly, putting on his best evil grin and not quite mastering it.

"We are the Neffari. We are strong. We are horde. We shall harvest this planet till it is nothing but ashes and dirt."

"You dare to invade MY realm? You are sorely mistaken if you think this challenge will go unmet and unpunished."

"And what can YOU do against our powerful race."

Loki raised one eyebrow, a devious smile creeping across his face.

"Let me show you," he said, and raised his hands.

Simultaneously, all the aliens, apart from the leader started to moan, grasping at their chests, their cries becoming screams as bright green light erupted from their cores. Their skin started to unzip and unravel, peeling back to reveal muscle and sinew which rolled back with the skin until all that was visible was bones and organs which fell into heaps on the floor.

"What have you done? My army!" the creature shouted. "What kind of monster are you!"

"I am indeed a monster," Loki said striding slowly towards the Neffari leader. "A monster who will defend his home even if it means destroying an entire race without a care."

"My master travels here now, he is undefeated. You will be vanquished and he will use your bones as toothpicks."

"I am leaving you alive to take a message back to your master," Loki said, glowering. "Tell him this place already has a ruler, one who will stop at nothing to defend his subjects, and if he dares to invade MY realm he will very quickly find that he has no teeth left to pick."

The Neffari general opened it's mouth to say something then thought better of it, quickly punched a button on the device attached to his wrist and shimmered out of existence.

Loki turned to face Steve and Tony, both of whom observed him warily.

"You killed them all," Steve said.

"I had to," Loki replied.

"You turned them inside out!" Steve shouted.

"The message to the leader of these creatures had to be a strong one, that this place is defended, and that defender was a powerful being that would act without conscience if threatened."

"Oh and wait," Tony interrupted,"Your realm? Since when was this your realm, cos I seem to remember kicking your ass every time you tried to take over."

"It sounded good, did it not?" Loki stated flatly, shrugging his shoulders.

They stood looking at each other for a second, Tony and Steve trying to size up just how much of a threat Loki was now.

"You know," Tony said trying to lighten the currently dark atmosphere between them, "I'm surprised your armor still fits the amount of food you've been putting away."

"I am, as they say, sucking in," Loki replied. "A lot."

"So why are you wearing it?"

"I wanted to look impressive and what is more impressive than this?" he said holding his hands out.

"You have a point."

"I thank you for your hospitality, Stark, but I must leave," Loki said.

"You're leaving?" Steve asked. "What about Thor?"

"My brother is in perfect health now and I am sure he would not wish to wake and find me confined in a SHIELD cell."

"We wouldn't lock you back up," Tony said.

"Really?" Loki asked and took a step forward. In response Tony and Steve took a step back. "It is clear that you will never trust me as you once did now that I have regained my faculties. I have spent enough of my life with people who cared little for me and I wish to do it no longer."

"Loki..." Steve said, feeling guilty.

"Please tell my brother I bade him farewell," he said and vanished.

Loki rematerialized in his extravagantly decorated quarters, swept his hand over his dusty throne and plonked himself down. He cast a weary eye over his lair and noted with some disdain that his favourite house plant had died in his absence.

His fingers rubbing at the base of his nose, he contemplated what had happened to him. He wanted to be angry, the avengers had hurt him, shot him with an obviously untested weapon and temporarily destroyed his mind. By all rights he should be furious and plotting revenge for such a cruel act, but his thoughts kept drifting back to a jumbled mess of feelings and images.

Thor holding him tightly, saying words he couldn't understand until the fear left his body. Steve smiling at him as he lowered a plate of delicious food on the table in front of him and rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Clint and Natasha placing a gun in his hand and showing him how to shoot menacing creatures who appeared from the dark on the TV screen and then cheering and hugging him when he did it. Stark driving him through the desert at a ridiculously fast speed in an open topped car, playing loud music and laughing as Loki screamed in delight. A blur of cartoons on a screen, Thor dancing wildly, bright colours in the air and smiling, people always smiling down at him, feeling loved and wanted and happier than he had ever felt before… and then finally Tony and Steve jumping back, a look of fear on their faces as he stood before them, restored.

He sighed heavily and waved his hand, his green dragon appearing before him. He wrapped his arms tightly around it and nestled it under his chin.

"At least you still love me," he said into it's floppy ear.

Back at the mansion as the clean up continued Natasha searched fruitlessly for Loki's dragon, hoping that it hadn't be incinerated with the rest of the toys he had left behind in his wake and that one day she would be able to give it back to him. That evening Tony walked into the rec room and cried out loudly when he discovered his 50-inch TV, blu-ray player and all the Disney DVDs were missing too.

A week later they received a call and Thor and Steve grinned at each other. Loki was in central park controlling the flight of a flock of pigeons to spell out rude phrases, insulting the various Avengers.

Tony had spent a few days muttering under his breath about his TV until he replaced it, and then started moaning again when he walked into the kitchen one morning and discovered his waffle iron had vanished, but in general everyone agreed they missed Loki's boisterous presence. Thor especially had taken to moping around, sighing dramatically till someone asked him what was wrong and he could explain at length how much he missed his brother.

"I hope he hasn't lost his marbles again," Tony said as they strode purposefully towards the trickster god. The birds swirled over their heads and in unison crapped on Iron Man leaving his suit streaked white and grey.

"I'm not deaf, Stark," Loki said a grin on his face, as everyone tried to stifle their giggles.

"Come on! That's not funny!" Tony shouted. "That's really unhygienic!"

"I can set you on fire to sterilize your suit if you desire," Loki replied with a wide smile, a look in his eye that Thor clearly understood, the thunder god laughed and took up a defensive stance.

Nick Fury and Coulson stood watching a live news report on the TV, helicopters over the park relaying live images, voices drowned out as a woman in a box in the corner of the screen attempted to describe the scene. The brothers circled around each other and then Thor rushed forward knocking Loki off his feet.

"And now it looks like Thor is holding Loki down… Loki is down, Loki is down, Thor has captured him and..." the woman paused, adjusting her ear piece and looking nervously off camera for a second. "It appears that Thor is … tickling Loki."

"Oh my god," Fury said as the camera zoomed on Loki laughing hysterically, his feet flailing in the air.

"Am I seeing this right Carole?" The reporter asked someone off screen. "Erm... Yes it appears Thor is tickling Loki and wait... He's fighting back now, he's escaping... and he's on top of Thor tickling him back..."

"On national TV," Fury said. "ON. NATIONAL. TV! Is this initiative suddenly some kind of joke to them?"

"It seemed to work," Coulson said. "No reported injuries or property damage, aside from the cleaning bill for the Iron Man suit."

"So tickling is our new line of defence against Loki? Is he Elmo now?"

"I yield! I yield! No brother stop! I yield!" Thor could be heard shouting on the TV.

"No sir," Coulson replied, "but apparently Thor is."

*

The news channels had stopped bothering to report Loki's attacks on the avengers since SHIELD issued a press release stating that they were merely training exercises, and that Loki had now become a consultant on how to defend against magically powered villains. Loki publicly scoffed at the idea that he would ever help the avengers, but secretly enjoyed it and then two days later declared that he wanted an official title with headed notepaper, all of which had been duly supplied by Coulson.

There was one small incident that made the headlines, when the President of the USA had appeared on TV to do a national address on the budget and found himself only able to speak in song lyrics from Beauty And The Beast, but Loki considered that to be nothing more than a harmless prank, even though it had earned him a reprimand from Fury, which he ignored with an eye roll and a wave of the hand.

Loki's visits to the Avengers mansion became more frequent and by turn thoroughly unpredictable. Sometimes he would turn up and play Guitar Hero and then vanish with a look of indignation on his face if anyone beat him. They would find him asleep on the couch in the rec room, or stealing Thor's Pop Tarts from the kitchen cupboards, and once Steve found him floating above a door, a bucket full of glowing green goo in his hands.

"Where is Stark?" he snapped.

"He's not here, he's on vacation."

"Damn," he replied, then vanished and then reappeared. "What is the location of Stark's holiday residence?"

Steve gave him the full address, told him the best place to hide, and then sat back to wait for an angry telephone call.

*

It had started with some strange interference, anomalous radiation that shouldn't be there. The worlds best scientists scrambled to find the source and then the Aurora Borealis had appeared in the New York skies, green and shimmering, which everyone immediately blamed on Loki due to the colour. They were wrong. Their ship cloaked until the last minute, they appeared out of nowhere like a skyscraper floating in the afternoon haze. The Neffari had arrived.

"Man, that looks like something out of Independence Day," Tony said as he stood on the mansion roof observing the giant spacecraft that hovered ominously low over the city.

Attempts had been made to communicate with the ships, but either the signal did not get through, or the Neffari were ignoring them, allowing the humans below to build themselves into a state of mass hysteria, awaiting their inevitable destruction.

"Did we get any orders through from Fury yet?" Steve asked.

"No. Apparently the U.N. want to try and communicate with them first, since they haven't proven that they are hostile yet."

"What do they call their attack on us if not hostility?"

"Well, apparently there are some politicians holed up in a nice safe little bunker somewhere who think we provoked them into attacking us."

"No way," Steve said incredulously and Tony just shrugged his shoulders.

"I just hope if the shit hits the fan that Loki turns up since he's the one who did the most provoking out of all of us."

3 days after the spacecraft appeared the doors opened with a clanging boom and a mass of smaller ships poured out from within them and headed out across the city, each one landing on roads and tops of buildings and doing no more. A larger ship appeared last, the doors closing again after it with a thud.

The craft descended to the street below and from inside it stepped one of the Neffari, much taller and heavier built than the others, he wore exotic robes, but still had the same mouth full of shark like teeth.

"I am Kennara, leader of the Neffari. Bring me the master of this place, the man who killed my people. I wish to accept his unconditional surrender."

The Avengers were there in minutes, finally called in when the politicians, as Clint put it, pissed in their pants when they realised what was about to happen.

"Are you the ruler of this place?" Kennara asked, his voice hissing between his pointed teeth.

"Er sadly no..." Stark said, as Steve, Thor, Hawkeye and Natasha stood in formation behind him. "He's not here right now, but if you'd like to get back on your little spaceship and fly away I'm sure I can send him to meet you when he gets back from having his hair done or whatever he's doing right now."

"This is stupid, we should have given him a cell phone or something," Clint said. "Just some way to get in touch with him."

"SHIELD gave him a phone," Natasha replied. "They had to cancel it though."

"They canceled his phone?"

"Yeah, apparently he ran up a half million dollar bill trying to call his mother in Asgard to ask what he should buy Thor for his birthday."

"Shhhh!" Steve said as Clint stood there with his mouth open. "I wanna hear what's going on,"

"If your ruler is too cowardly to show himself then I will take your planet by force," Kennara said. "None shall stop me!"

"We'll give it a damn good try," Tony said, and he raised his hands, his repulsors glowing, ready for action.

Kennara smiled a smile that looked like a slash across his face, he emitted a sound that could have been a word like no one had ever heard before, guttural and rough, and thousands of Neffari poured out from small craft, lining the roads and the rooftops, surrounding the avengers.

"Oh crap," Stark said as the Neffari raised their guns as one and rained down energy blasts upon them which never made their target, each blast arcing out across the bubble of protective magic, temporarily causing it turn into a solid green opaque shield.

"Good afternoon," Loki said nonchalantly, as he appeared before them.

"Brother! It is good to see you!" Thor bellowed, seemingly forgetting that they were under attack for a moment.

"It is good to see you too Brother," Loki said and then tipped his head towards the others, "and you Captain, Miss Romanoff, Hawkeye, Stark."

"Where the hell have you been?" Tony shouted.

"I was having my helmet buffed," Loki said with a twirl. "Don't you think it looks delightfully bright today?"

"Ugh..." Tony said. "I really hope that's not a double entendre."

Loki raised an eyebrow and snorted, his mouth tightening into a teasing smirk.

"Shall we get started?" Loki said, rubbing his hands together.

"What do you require of us Loki?" Thor asked.

The energy blasts had stopped, the opaque magic bubble once again turning clear, and they turned to see Kennara with his hand in the air.

"Why brother, I require that you stay here and not interrupt me," Loki said, as he stepped through the bubble, turned back and laid his hand on it. It sizzled and crackled with audible energy and Thor put his hand up to the half sphere and realised he could not push through it.

"Loki, let us out we wish to help you," Thor begged.

"I'm sorry brother, but I cannot," Loki said leaving his hand on the side of the bubble, a sadness in his eyes that Thor recognized immediately. Thor raised his hand to meet his brothers, feeling the barrier pulsing energy where their palms aligned.

"Loki, no."

"I can do it Thor."

"No Loki, stop!"

"I can do it. I really can do it," he said dropping his hand and walking away as Thor screamed his name over and over.

"You are the ruler of this place?" Kennara asked as Loki stood before him.

"I am," he said, his voice full of well faked arrogance, "And now I command you to leave and not return, lest you find yourself turned into a particularly grotesque turnip."

Kennara looked confused for a second, wondering what a turnip was. He decided it was an insult and he should act suitably offended.

"You, you are nothing, you are but a tiny mortal to me," Kennara said, raising his weapon and firing.

Loki staggered back a few steps as the bolt hit him square in the chest, a ragged hole appearing front and back as it passed right through him. Thor screamed and hammered on the side of protective bubble, calling Loki's name.

Loki stopped, his feet back square on the ground now, his head down, blood pouring down his damaged armor.

"No," he replied. The blood flow stopped and Kennara's mouth dropped open as he watched Loki's flesh begin to heal, the wound closing over, followed by the cloth and the trickster raised his head to look the shocked alien in the eye. "I am a god."

Loki raised his hands and the ground began to shake. Kennara began to lose his footing, his ship rattling and vibrating till it threatened to break into pieces.

"What are you doing?" he shrieked as the concrete behind him began to break open and shift backwards, taking his ship with it. A giant green, scaly foot emerged, followed by another and they landed with a thud, one each side of Kennara, as a giant green dragon with golden horns hauled itself from the ground, raised it's head to the sky and roared.

Other emerging dragons roared back in reply, anywhere there was open ground they were tearing their way through it, being birthed from the very Earth itself. The Neffari troops panicked and started shooting wildly at them, the energy pulses bouncing harmlessly off their thick hides, serving only to enrage them further as they took to the skies on golden wings.

The Avengers, still trapped inside their protective bubble of magic, watched with awe as the dragons wheeled in the sky, attacking the Neffari on the rooftops, raking at them with claws, ripping their bodies to shreds as they fell in to the street below in a rain of body parts and blood spots. They landed on the small spacecraft and used their giant teeth to chew them into pieces, swallowing the metal fragments, leaving no trace of the alien invaders. Others flew over the soldiers in the street, breathing fire down the sidewalks and roads where they ran, screaming, and fleeing for their lives.

The first, and largest dragon of them all, still stood behind Kennara who watched with horror as his army were decimated. It waited for it's master to issue the final command to end this.

"You know not what you have done," Kennara screamed. "If you kill me my people will destroy this world, we have the power to blast it to dust!"

"Shall we test that theory?" Loki said plainly and a simple movement of the fingers was all it took to make the giant green and gold beast reach down and swallow the alien ruler in one gulp.

A noise issued across the city, blowing out every window in a half-mile radius and causing the very buildings themselves to shake on their foundations, as massive doors under the Neffari mother ship began to open.

Loki pointed his hands towards the ship and as one the contingent of dragons flew towards it. They reached the ship and used their claws to puncture it's metal lining, they blew fire into the holes they had created and incinerated the occupants of the sections within reach. The giant dragon hung underneath it using its teeth and claws to eat away the weapon that was emerging from the doors, while others concentrated on the ships engines, tearing away their metal coverings and eating the circuits inside.

A giant plume of sparks and fire erupted from under the ship as it began to list and groan under its own weight with one dead engine, the others no longer strong enough to hold it stable in the sky.

"Oh my god," Stark said inside the bubble. "It's going down."

"Tony, if that thing hits the city a hell of a lot of people are going to die," Steve said.

"You're right," he said. "Thor, you have to tell him, he needs to push it out to sea, he can't let it hit the city, thousands, hundreds of thousands will die."

Thor nodded and shouted, "Loki! Loki, brother!" Loki glanced over his shoulder briefly, seemingly listening, "Stark says you need to push it out to sea, you can't let it hit the ground. Many will perish!"

Loki nodded and The Avengers watched as the dragons clambered over the giant ship, bracing their feet against it to push while others propped their heads underneath the damaged engine. They pushed, they beat their wings frantically seemingly forever, until with a deep sound of shrieking metal the ship began to slowly move, gently gathering speed.

Loki turned and smiled sadly at his brother, the strain at using this much magic at once etched on his face and Thor's joy at seeing his brother so powerful, creating such beautiful creatures out of nothing, turned to terror as he saw the wound on Loki's chest slowly peel back open. Cloth first, followed by skin, as if using so much of his magic to power the dragons meant there was none left for himself. The blood started to flow again, sluggish at first, but as Loki concentrated, willing the dragons to make one final effort push the mother ship up to speed, he coughed and bubbles of blood formed on his lips.

"Loki, you have to stop!" Thor shouted, beating his hands against the bubble and as the ship increased in speed, finally reaching the open water the avengers watched as one by one the dragons blinked out of existence, only the largest remained to give one final push as the craft began to lose height, slowly descending before the final dragon fizzled out and the ship slid elegantly into the sea.

They watched with horror as Loki sank to the ground.

"Brother!" Thor shouted, hitting the barrier once more, it fizzled and then finally collapsed.

"Loki!" Thor bellowed as he ran to his brother and gently cradled him, removing his helmet and passing it to Steve. "Brother you must use your magic, you must heal yourself."

"Can't," Loki whispered, as a thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. "All gone."

"That cannot be."

"Sorry," Loki said, as Steve uselessly placed his hand over the wound in Loki's chest, trying to stop the blood spilling out of the gaping hole, but as it oozed between his fingers he noticed the pooling blood on the ground that was leaking from the matching wound on his back.

Tony paced the ground, on the comm, trying to get medical help sent down as the rest of The Avengers knelt on the ground next to their friend.

"They're sending a transport now," Tony said as he joined them, kneeling.

"Thank you, Stark," Thor said as he gently stroked his brothers cheek, "But I fear they will not arrive soon enough."

"Did you see them Thor? They were magnificent," Loki said, smiling weakly, his face growing deathly pale and his breathing accompanied by a sickly wet sound.

"Aye brother I did, your greatest creation yet," Thor said, tears clouding his vision. "Tales will be told of your bravery for a thousand years."

"I did it Thor," Loki whispered with his last breaths. "For all of us."

"Yes, Loki," Thor said, hugging his brother close, listening as his heart beat slowed, then finally stopped and the unshed tears  spilled.

For a long time the group remained silent, their only movement a comforting hand slid onto a friends shoulder until finally Thor sat back.

"My brother has died a warriors death today. Mother and father will see to it that he is accorded a warriors funeral," he said, his breath hitching. "I would be honored, my friends, if you would accompany me when I take him back to Asgard."

"Thor," Steve said, "The honor will be ours."

Too late, the medical transport helicopter flew across the upper bay, snaking its way past the island and around the statue of liberty whose golden horns still shimmered in the sun.