Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rettferdighet: Norwegian word for "Justice"

Thor’s feet touched the floor of the newly reconstructed Himinbjörg as the power of the Tesseract dissipated. R arely had he felt so unhappy upon returning home.

Probably because instead of standing beside him, smiling and triumphant from a battle they had won together, Loki now stood beside him muzzled and in chains.

“Welcome home,” Heimdall said. He glanced momentarily at Thor and nodded, before returning to his watch. “I saw you coming. Your father will be here soon.”

Thor nodded and looked down at the floor.

A few moments later, Odin walked in, accompanied by ten palace guards. The All-Father nodded in Loki’s direction, and the guards quickly surrounded him and began to lead him towards the palace.

“You’ve done well, Thor.”

Thor looked at his father.

He did not sound pleased or proud. He sounded tired.

Thor nodded, but said nothing.

Odin sighed and clapped Thor softly on the shoulder.

“Come. Your mother is waiting for you.”

The walk back to the palace went by mostly in silence. Thor gave a falsely regal smile to anyone who called out to him to welcome him home victorious, but his father did not say a word, and neither did Thor.

Finally, they were on the steps to the front courtyard. Odin paused, and Thor did likewise.

“Loki must stand trial for what he has done,” Odin said quietly. “Your mother is waiting for us in the throne room. I will ask you for an account of what happened on Midgard so that I may properly judge your brother’s crimes. He will then be allowed to speak for himself before I pass judgment.”

Thor nodded, and they continued towards the throne room.

Odin’s somber mood did nothing to lighten Thor’s spirits. Thor had always loved giving accounts of his adventures… but despite meeting good, noble people and saving so many innocent humans, this adventure was not one he would call glorious.

It had ended in battling his own brother.

Adopted or not, Loki was his brother. Seeing how far Loki had fallen was painful for Thor, and for whatever reason, it actually felt worse now that they were both home again.

-0-O-0-

Odin sat on his throne. Frigga, Thor’s mother, stood near Thor at the base of the throne. Her face betrayed no emotion, but Thor could sense how hurt she was. Had he not been so dispirited himself, he would have been bristling with anger at Loki for causing their mother pain.

Loki walked in, his muzzle having been removed. Now that he had apparently recovered from being thoroughly smashed by the Hulk, he had a bit of his old swagger back. He had the smallest insolent smirk on his face, and he approached the throne with mock seriousness.

An easy grin split his face as he came to a halt.

“I really don’t see what all the fuss is about,” he said, with a soft chuckle.

“Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes?” Odin asked, a touch of quiet anger coloring his tone. “Do you not understand what you have done? The pain and suffering you have caused people who never harmed you?”

“I dunno, their giant green cretin certainly did me a bit of harm.”

“Silence!” Odin took a deep breath and looked at Thor. “Thor, I ask you to recount the events of the battle on Midgard.”

Thor took a deep breath and nodded, before beginning his tale.

When he had finished, having described only the parts of the story that involved Loki and not giving particular emphasis to anything (and leaving out the part about Loki stabbing him, again ), Odin nodded and returned his attention to Loki.

“What have you to say for yourself?”

Loki raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“I went down to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just as you did.”

Loki’s voice carried a touch of venom.

Odin sighed.

“We are not gods. We are born. We live. We die. Just as humans do.”

“Give or take five thousand years,” Loki muttered.

“Silence!” Odin exclaimed. He took a deep breath and calmed himself.

“I admit that I made my share of stupid and arrogant mistakes when I was younger,” he said. “But even I was not foolish enough to cause a war on Midgard and murder innocent people. I had hoped to teach you and Thor to be far better men than I ever was.”

“And look how we turned out! An arrogant oaf with a hammer and an undersized fr—”

“LOKI!!!”

It was not Odin who had shouted.

It was Frigga. She was bristling with barely controlled anger.

“I will not have you disrespecting your father this way!”

“He’s NOT my father!” Loki shouted back.

Frigga appeared to finally be on the verge of angry tears.

“Then am I not your mother?” she asked, her voice suddenly much softer.

She turned and walked quickly out of the throne room.

A heavy silence remained.

Loki actually appeared to be slightly shocked.

“All this because Loki wants a throne,” Odin said quietly.

Loki was still too stunned by their mother’s departure to reply.

Odin sighed. “Loki, for invading a world that has no quarrel with us, and for murdering innocent people on that world, you are sentenced to spend the rest of your days in the dungeons of Asgard.”

Odin waved a hand, and the guards began to lead Loki away.

“And what of my dear brother?” Loki shot back, as he was tugged towards the exit. “You’ll make Thor, the witless oaf, king, while I rot in chains?”

Thor’s eyes traveled to his boots.

It wasn’t because of his brother’s insult, though that did hurt.

He had not desired the throne of Asgard since he returned from his banishment. Now more than ever, he did not want it. If it would change things, if it would turn back time and bring back the Loki he had grown up with and loved, he would gladly give up the throne.

Odin’s voice brought Thor out of his thoughts, but he did not look up.

“Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done. He will bring order to the Nine Realms and reestablish the diplomatic ties you have broken. And then, yes, he will be king.”

Thor swallowed and twisted his hands on Mjolnir’s handle. He risked a look at the All-Father’s face.

Rather than smug or even impassive, Odin looked sad and tired.

Thor looked at Loki. His brother’s face held thinly veiled anger.

Yes, Loki deserved what he was getting.

But that did not make Thor feel any better.

Thor waited until the attending guards had led Loki out of sight before quietly stepping in front of his father’s throne.

“Father, with your permission… I wish to depart for Midgard again as soon as possible.”

Odin sighed, looking older and more tired than ever.

“You will have to wait until the Bifrost has renewed itself. I will not trust the use of the Tesseract again. It will remain safe in the relic vault. But once the Bifrost has been fully restored, yes, you may go.”

Thor swallowed, bowed respectfully, and hurried out of the throne room.

He didn’t even argue.

Chapter Text

Komme Tilbake: Norwegian for “Return” or “go back to”

About two months later, the Bifrost had finally renewed itself enough to be used for travel.

Thor bid his mother and father goodbye, swung Mjolnir, and flew towards Himinbjörg. He greeted Heimdall, and Heimdall opened the Bifrost for him.

When the last vestiges of rainbow-colored light had faded, Thor found himself once again in the desert where he had first met Jane Foster. He smiled, swung Mjolnir, and shot off towards Jane’s lab.

Jane took it quite well, seeing Thor again. He quickly explained that with the Bifrost broken, he had been unable to travel easily to Midgard. His father had only been able to conjure enough power to send him on a one-way journey after Loki.

“The Tesseract provided a means to travel back to Asgard, but it would be unwise to continue using it. I’m sorry I kept you waiting, but it couldn’t be helped,” Thor finished.

Jane smiled.

“I’m just glad you’re back. I saw everything about New York on the news. I was hoping you’d be able to come and visit, even just for a little while.”

Thor spent the evening eating, drinking, and generally being merry with his Midgardian friends. Jane called in an order for “pizza” (a very popular Midgardian delicacy that Thor had still not tasted), Darcy ran off to the store and came back with several boxes of Pop Tarts, and Selvig offered him a smile and a firm handshake. He was doing reasonably well, despite all he had been through.

“That Tony Stark, he helped me find a good therapist,” Selvig confided, while the two of them sat together after dinner. “I still have my bad days, but I’m doing a lot better than I could be. And having Jane and Darcy around again helps.”

Thor smiled.

He was glad to see everyone doing so well.

Eventually, when Darcy went to bed and Selvig went home for the night, Jane and Thor went up to the roof. Jane started a small fire, and they sat close to each other, just as they had over a year ago.

“...how’d things go with your brother?” she asked, when they had sat in silence for a short time.

Thor did not immediately speak.

“Erik told me about what happened with the Tesseract and SHIELD and the fight in New York,” Jane said, when he did not fill the silence.

Thor risked a look at her. Her eyes held nothing but kindness.

Thor swallowed.

“It went… as well as could be expected. Loki is imprisoned in the dungeons of Asgard. He will not be able to hurt anyone else.”

A pause.

“How are you holding up?” Jane asked quietly. “...I mean, that’s gotta be hard.”

Thor felt his jaw clench.

“I… I, um…”

He swallowed and stared at the fire.

“My mother is still grieving,” he said slowly. “She puts on a smile in the company of others, but she’s been visiting my brother every few days. I saw her crying after the last time. And my father—”

“Thor, I asked how you’re doing,” Jane said gently.

Thor swallowed again and twisted his hands together.

“I… I don’t know,” he said.

This was not entirely true. Thor felt so many things, but he didn’t know how exactly to put it all into words, least of all into English words. There was grief, there was anger, there was hurt…

“It’s… complicated,” he said quietly.

Jane put a hand on his shoulder and said nothing else, for which Thor was grateful.

-0-O-0-

Thor stayed with Jane, Darcy, and Selvig for almost two weeks before he decided it was time to go back to Stark Tower and visit his other friends. He had enjoyed learning more about Midgardian culture, trying new foods, and exploring the region of New Mexico, but it was time to reunite with the Avengers, as he had promised to. So, with a promise to Jane that he would return, and some help from Heimdall and the Bifrost, Thor made his way back to New York.

He landed on the huge balcony with a strange symbol on it and strode towards the door. It opened of its own accord, and he walked through.

“Welcome back, Mr. Thor,” said a strange voice from the ceiling. “I am JARVIS, Mr. Stark’s personal AI assistant. If you are here for dinner, Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, Captain Rogers, and Agents Barton and Romanoff are in the communal kitchen.”

The disembodied voice gave Thor directions, for which he thanked it (as was only polite).

Thor walked into the kitchen and was greeted by the scent of food. He smiled.

“My friends!” he called.

Stark, Captain Rogers, Lady Natasha, Barton, and Dr. Banner all turned and greeted him happily.

“Glad you finally decided to show up, Goldilocks!” Stark said. “We weren’t exactly expecting you, but we’ve got plenty of food. Come get some moo shu pork before Barton eats it all.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Barton replied, before returning to shoveling food into his mouth with a set of wooden sticks.

With some tutelage from Dr. Banner, Thor was soon able to eat the “Chinese food” with the strange sticks too, and he did so with gusto.

“So, if you’re back, does that mean the Rainbow Road is finally fixed?” Stark asked.

Thor swallowed a mouthful of noodles and nodded.

“Aye. The Bifrost is fully restored. I can now travel throughout the Nine Realms with ease.”

“How does that work?” Dr. Banner asked.

Thor opened his mouth to explain as best he could, but was cut off by Barton.

“No physics at the dinner table, Doc. We talked about this after you and Stark sat here until 3 AM last time we had Chinese, remember?”

“How could we forget? You walked in at 3 AM with no shirt on and shot me in the head with a Nerf gun,” Stark said, rolling his eyes.

Dr. Banner smiled.

“Mind telling me later then?” he asked, looking back towards Thor.

Thor smiled. “Not at all.”

It pleased him to see everyone still getting along so well.

-0-O-0-

Over the next several weeks, Thor learned many things.

He (and Captain Rogers) learned how to play “ping pong” and “air hockey” from Barton. He learned what a Delorean was from Stark, as well as how to use a screwdriver, a wrench, and an adjustable ratchet. He learned from Lady Natasha that milkshakes should be drunk slowly and cautiously, lest a mighty pain called a “brain freeze” come forth. He also learned how to use the appliances in the kitchen from Dr. Banner, and now knew to pay particular heed to the intricacies of the toaster in the preparation of Pop Tarts.

And when Fury came to call upon them, Thor also learned that evils still existed on Midgard, evils that sought to take advantage of a world still recovering from his brother’s attempted invasion. In light of this, he and his new friends agreed to an alliance with the people of SHIELD, and they had already set out on one mission to destroy a base belonging to the scum called AIM. Thor quickly learned how to coordinate with Captain Rogers in melee and with Stark in the air. He also learned that carelessly approaching the Hulk after a battle was most unwise.

Despite the work now cut out for the Avengers, Thor visited Jane as often as decency would permit. He did not want to neglect her after so long apart, but he also wanted time with the Avengers. Maintaining the balance was proving an enjoyable challenge.

Thor had not been this happy in a long time.

So when Heimdall sent word that Thor’s father wished for him to return to Asgard, Thor was less than pleased.

But he was a prince, and it was his duty to come home when called upon.

Thor bid Dr. Banner (the only one in Stark Tower at the time of the call) farewell and headed up to what Stark had told him was called a “helipad” to take the Bifrost home.

Chapter Text

Forpliktelse: Norwegian word for “duty” or “commitment”

Thor spent the next several months going between Asgard and Earth. Most of the time, he was able to get several uninterrupted weeks on Earth.

Well, uninterrupted by trouble in the other Realms, anyway. There was still plenty of action on Earth to keep him busy. But he found he didn’t mind the Earth variety of trouble.

Trouble in the other eight Realms however…

It was more difficult to manage.

Even well past a year since the Bifrost had first been broken, the realms allied to Asgard were dealing with outside invasion. Apparently, word had got round that the Asgardians couldn’t rush to anyone’s aid without the Bifrost, and invaders and plunderers had decided to seize on the opportunity.

Vanaheim was a particular target. They could defend themselves, but they had come to rely so much on Asgardian protection that their army lacked both numbers and skill. They had quickly swelled the ranks, but none of the soldiers had enough experience, and many villages were still under the control of invaders.

Thor spent several weeks with the Warriors Three and Lady Sif liberating as many villages as possible. This was of particular importance to Hogun, whose family lived on Vanaheim. And if it was important to one of his friends, it was important to Thor.

Finally, after weeks of battling, the last village was free. In the aftermath, Thor sat down on a water barrel and took a deep breath, savoring the relative quiet. Hogun wandered over and stopped beside him.

“Thank you,” Hogun said, with a rare smile.

Thor smiled back, stood, and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Of course, my friend.”

Suddenly, the light of the Bifrost blazed and a voice rang out.

“Thor!”

It was Heimdall.

“Your friends on Midgard have need of you.”

Thor’s grip on Mjolnir tightened immediately.

“My apologies, Hogun,” he said. “I must leave before we can celebrate properly.”

Hogun simply nodded, and Thor bolted into the pillar of light.

-0-O-0-

Thor’s boots touched Midgardian soil. As the light faded, he raised his hammer, ready for battle, and then—

“...you’re a bit late.”

It was Stark who had spoken.

Thor looked around.

All of the Avengers were present, in various states of disarray. There was their Quinjet. And there was the one called Rhodey, a friend of Stark’s who wore similar battle armor.

Barton, Stark, and Lady Natasha were all sitting on the ground, looking tired. Stark was un-armored and Barton did not have his bow or arrows with him. Hulk was lurking by the Quinjet, and he appeared to still be smoldering with leftover rage.

Though Thor had no idea of the circumstances that had led to this, it was quite clear that the battle was already over and won.

Thor lowered Mjolnir, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed.

“Heimdall, you son of a bilge snipe…” Thor murmured.

Heimdall had given him an easy way out. If Thor sent a message back to the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, he could assure them all was well and then simply remain here until called home again.

Thor smiled to himself.

“Heck of a welcome back, huh?” Barton asked.

Thor chuckled.

“Indeed.”

-0-O-0-

The next day, while at SHIELD medical, Thor was sitting with Captain Rogers, Stark, and Lady Natasha in a room with a large table. Thor was dressed, like his friends, in the strange, thin clothing favored by the Midgardians, and Mjolnir was on the Quinjet they had arrived on. Thor was now fully informed on the events of the previous day. Stark and Barton had trailed some men with ties to the agents of AIM, but had managed to get trapped inside the vehicle belonging to the men. They had been unable to escape and had hidden in the ceiling vents of the organization’s base. Captain Rogers, Lady Natasha, Dr. Banner, and Rhodey had realized their friends were missing and had staged a rescue. They had done this without waiting for SHIELD’s approval (hence the meeting, though their presence would have been required at a “debrief” anyway if it had been approved). Thor wholeheartedly supported such action.

But, unbeknownst to most of the team until that morning, Dr. Banner had been shot in the shoulder during the previous day’s rescue mission, which was why the Hulk had appeared. Stark and Barton were ordinarily the furthest from mother hens anyone in the Avengers (except Lady Natasha) could be, but from what Thor had seen, neither of them had taken the news particularly calmly. Dr. Banner’s injury was the main reason the Avengers were at SHIELD medical, the other being a check on Stark, Barton, and Lady Natasha, who had been exposed to an unknown type of sleep gas.

Lady Natasha and Stark had already been examined and found healthy, so now the team was just waiting for Barton and Dr. Banner to return. Lady Natasha was texting on her phone, and Captain Rogers was explaining the situation to Fury over a “video call,” with many interruptions and inputs from Stark.

“Tony and Clint got kidnapped—”

“Hey, it’s not kidnapping if you get in the car and they don’t know you’re there!”

“—and we came to get them out—”

“Thank you, by the way!”

“—but we couldn’t find them—”

“The ceiling vents were Barton’s idea!”

“—and whoever was in charge decided to hit the base with some kind of sleep gas.”

Thor smiled as this exchange continued.

It was good to be back.

But as Thor continued to watch this little drama unfold—Captain Rogers and Stark, attempting to explain what had happened, and Fury, who had his one working eye closed, his head held in one hand, and a tired expression on his face as he listened—Thor felt a small pang. He realized what this reminded him of.

“ Well, Thor and I thought that if we just—”

“It was huge, Father! You should have seen it!”

“We had no idea it was going to charge like that—”

“It was a good thing the fjord was so cold!”

Thor swallowed and suddenly turned aside to rub his eyes on the pretense of getting dust out of them. Then he decided it might be best to withdraw for a bit. The conversation did not concern him anyway, since he had played no part in the rescue.

Thor exited into the hallway and wandered a bit away. He took a deep breath and pushed thoughts of his brother away.

“Thor?”

Thor turned. Dr. Banner and Barton were walking towards him. Dr Banner had been the one to speak.

The two men came to stop near him.

“Ah, Dr. Banner,” Thor said, with a careful smile. “How do you fare?”

“Well, imaging didn’t show anything stuck in my shoulder. The bullet hit towards the outside of my arm and went straight through. The Other Guy healed what was left. It’s just a little sore now.”

Thor nodded.

“And you, Barton?”

Barton shrugged.

“They couldn’t find anything wrong. I’m feeling fine, but they don’t want me to drive until tomorrow, just in case.”

Thor nodded.

“So what did Fury say?” Barton asked.

Thor chuckled softly.

“I don’t know. When I was in there, Captain Rogers and Stark were talking over each other.”

Dr. Banner smiled and shook his head.

“Typical,” he said. “I say we just wait out here for the chaos to end.”

“Bold of you to assume it’ll end when Stark comes out of that conference room,” Barton said.

Eventually, the rest of the Avengers exited the room. Captain Rogers was looking rather long-suffering, Stark was walking with his usual swagger, and Lady Natasha wore her customary soft smirk.

“Well, that’s over with. Birdbrain, you’re looking well. Bruce, what did the doctor say?” Stark asked.

“Imaging’s clear. Nothing worth worrying about.”

“Good. Then I say we head home.”

Stark led the way to the Quinjet. Thor and Captain Rogers were still piloting, due to Barton and Lady Natasha being forbidden to do so until the following day, per doctor’s orders.

Captain Rogers was doing most of the piloting, but Thor was trying to pay attention, should he be called upon. His role was “co-pilot.”

“Stop yanking the rudder about like that! You’re supposed to move it gently!” Loki exclaimed.

“I am moving it gently!” Thor shot back.

“Well, if that’s “gently,” I’d hate to see—Watch it! …Oh, well done, you only nearly killed us that time.”

“Just shut up and help me, will you?!!”

“Fine! Give me the rudder!”

Thor cringed at the memory of the time he and Loki had decided to try flying an Asgardian ship. Loki had insisted that he knew what he was doing, and then had proceeded to put the piloting in Thor’s hands and criticize his every move. Now that he was older, Thor suspected that Loki’s intent had been for Thor to take most of the blame if they got caught.

And, of course, they had been caught, and the shouting and lecturing had gone on for ages, with both their mother and father taking it in turns.

“Thor, you need to retract the landing gear.”

Thor started and looked at Captain Rogers.

“Oh, right… sorry.”

Thor pressed the button and focused his attention on the front window, as none of the readings on the control panel made much sense to him. Not for the first time, he wished Allspeak served as an interpreter, not just a translator.

The rest of the flight back to the Tower went smoothly, all things considered, and Thor got the sense that the rest of the day would pass without anything of note occurring.

But that did not sit well with Thor.

He had never been one to sit still anyway, but these days, having nothing to do allowed his mind to wander down darker paths.

So, Thor found himself seeking out means of staying busy.

Captain Rogers obliged in over an hour in the game room, helping Thor hone his skills at “pool” and “air hockey” and “foosball.”

Stark was pleased that Thor was still interested in working on the Delorean, and the pair of them spent several hours tinkering with it.

Lady Natasha accepted Thor’s offer of help with cooking dinner, and showed him the best way to handle a knife when chopping vegetables.

But that night, when everyone had gone to bed and the Tower had finally fallen quiet, Thor felt the darkness creeping back into his mind.

He made a valiant attempt at staying in bed before giving up and going back to the game room. With no one around to play against, he decided on the strangely addicting game called “pin-ball.”

But after a long time playing, Thor just felt numb, not better. And he was now thirsty.

He sighed and decided a walk to the communal kitchen would be better than raiding the drink bar in the game room.

Upon entering the kitchen, Thor realized that he was not the only one awake.

“Dr. Banner?”

Dr. Banner jumped slightly, but quickly relaxed.

“Oh… hey, Thor.” He rubbed his eyes and dropped a tea bag into a mug. “What’s up?”

Thor shrugged.

“I cannot find sleep tonight.”

Dr. Banner gave a tired chuckle.

“Join the club. Want some tea?”

Once they both had a steaming cup of the golden liquid (and Dr. Banner had furnished Thor with a small plastic bear filled with honey), the two men sat next to each other on the tall chairs by the kitchen island.

“Is everything all right?” Thor asked, squeezing a liberal amount of honey into his mug.

Dr. Banner took a careful sip of tea.

“Just trouble sleeping. But I’m used to that,” he said, in a tone that told Thor he did not want to speak much on the subject.

Thor nodded. He knew enough about Dr. Banner’s life before the Avengers to know that the man had many reasons to struggle to sleep, and he respected a desire to keep such things out of casual conversation.

“What about you?” Dr. Banner asked. “Are you doing okay?”

Thor paused with the mug halfway to his lips.

He realized he had paused too long when Dr. Banner said, in a quiet, respectful tone, “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. …But if you do, I’ll listen.”

Thor swallowed and set his mug down.

It had been months. He had not been able to tell Jane, wanting to enjoy every moment with her and not taint it with pouring out such unhappy feelings. He could not bear to speak of it to his parents, because they were both suffering enough without him adding to it. He refused to let the Warriors Three or Sif see him in such a vulnerable state when he was supposed to be their prince and their leader. He did not want to confide in the Avengers, because it felt wrong to mourn Loki before people who had been hurt by him.

But Dr. Banner’s quiet demeanor, and his habit of explaining complex things in a simple way that was not condescending, made Thor feel more comfortable speaking his mind than the other Avengers did.

“...no. I have been… I have been… mourning, I suppose,” Thor said quietly.

Dr. Banner said nothing as Thor began to finally say the things that had been swirling in the back of his mind for months. And once he started, he found he could not stop. He told Dr. Banner about his parents’ grief, about Loki’s attitude, about how he had been trying to stay busy so that he wouldn’t have to think about it, about how he had to keep up the appearance that everything was fine because he was a prince of Asgard.

“He’s my brother. But he hates me now. I don’t know what do. I just want him back,” he finished.

To his horror, Thor realized that he had started crying. He quickly swiped his tears away and took a big glug of his now-cold tea.

Dr. Banner hesitated. And then he placed a hand on Thor’s shoulder.

“I had no idea you were dealing with all that, Thor. I’m sorry. That’s really tough.”

They sat in silence for awhile.

“I really don’t know how to help,” Dr. Banner admitted. “I’m not a therapist. But I can find you one, if you want. I know a really good clinic.”

“What’s a therapist?” Thor asked.

“Someone who has gone to a lot of school and understands how our brains process emotions. They know strategies to deal with things like grief and anger.”

Thor quirked an eyebrow.

“You have attended so much school and are so knowledgeable, but this is not something you learned?”

Dr. Banner gave a soft chuckle.

“No. I was more interested in chemistry and physics. Those make more sense to me. Emotions are harder than rocket science because everyone feels them differently.”

Thor nodded, and they sat quietly for a few moments.

“I… do not know that I want a therapist. Not yet, anyway. But speaking to you has helped me feel better.”

Dr. Banner nodded and smiled sadly.

“Sometimes it helps to just release the pressure,” he said.

Thor took their mugs to the sink and rinsed them out.

“Thank you for listening, my friend,” Thor said.

The pain was still there, but it was no longer gnawing at him the way it had been before.

Dr. Banner smiled.

“If you need me again, I’ll listen,” he said.

Chapter Text

Begynner å Reparere Seg: Norwegian for “beginning to mend”

A few months after what Lady Natasha had dubbed “The Ceiling Vent Incident,” Dr. Banner and the Hulk managed to settle their differences. Thor knew it was the result of months of work, not just the efforts of one night’s talking, but it gave him hope.

If two halves of a man could mend a relationship that didn’t even have the advantage of a friendly start, surely there was hope for Loki and Thor to repair their bond as brothers!

That was what Thor kept telling himself. But with every return to Asgard, and every visit to Loki’s cell, came the reminder of just how broken Thor’s family was.

His mother was still trying. Oh, how she was trying.

She permitted Loki extra comforts in his cell; books, a soft bed, good food. But Loki barely seemed to notice. If he knew how much she still loved him, he certainly did a good job hiding it.

His father had not visited Loki, but Thor could tell it was less out of anger at Loki and more anger at himself for failing as a father. Odin hardly ever smiled anymore, and a dark cloud seemed to hang over him at all times.

Dr. Banner called this “depression.” He had told Thor that having horrible things happen— trauma, he called it—could hurt more than a person’s body. Their very soul was injured, and such unseen injuries could take a long time to heal. When explaining that Odin was possibly suffering from depression, Thor realized that he was also burdened by depression. But having the Avengers to work with and learn from made it much more bearable. And now that he knew this feeling had a name, that it wasn’t a flaw or weakness in himself but a condition akin to an injury, Thor felt much less ashamed.

Perhaps I ought to suggest something like “therapy” to Father, Thor thought, as he exited the Bifrost, greeted Heimdall, and began to walk out of Himinbjörg.

The Avengers had just celebrated the Midgardian holidays of Christmas and New Year together, and Thor was home for the winter festival of Asgard. Such a time had always been a source of joy in the past. But setting eyes on the palace as he flew towards it, he felt the heaviness of depression begin to settle in his heart again.

There would likely be no ice carvings from Odin this year, let alone from Loki. His mother would likely bake sweet bread, but would it make her happy?

This year was looking to be the most melancholy winter festival Thor had ever experienced.

He swallowed.

He could not fix everything. But it was his duty as a prince, as a son, to at least try to bring some joy to his parents. And it was his duty as a brother to at least visit Loki.

Thor sighed and decided to get the most depressing part of it over first. After announcing his homecoming to the nearest member of the palace staff (who happened to be the librarian), Thor strode straight to the palace dungeons.

He wasn’t sure what he would say to Loki. Indeed, there did not seem to be much to say. Loki had always been uniquely gifted at ignoring Thor when he wanted to, so regaling him with tales of his trip to Midgard was next to worthless. In any other circumstances, Loki would have gotten at least a chuckle out of hearing that the Hulk had bowled Thor over with a massive snowball. Thor had never been one to plan ahead very thoroughly, of course. Such behavior was a more recent habit he had cultivated in favor of being a better diplomat. But perhaps his old way of just diving headfirst into a problem would suit him better at this time.

A short time later, Thor had arrived at Loki’s cell. Loki, as he always seemed to be when Thor visited, was lying on the bed, reading a book.

“Hello, brother,” Thor said quietly.

Loki, as Thor had expected, ignored him. Thor sighed and sat down with his back against the magical barrier. After a moment’s thought, he began to tell Loki about his trip to Midgard. He had just finished the part about the snowball fight when--

SLAM.

Thor jumped and turned around. Loki was holding his fist against the barrier, glaring down at Thor. This was the closest they had been to each other since the day Thor had brought Loki home to stand trial.

“Stop your prattling,” Loki growled. “It’s annoying.”

“Nice to see you finally looking at me,” Thor said flatly, as he stood to meet Loki’s eyes.

“You think I care what you get up to on that stupid little world?” Loki asked icily.

“It wasn’t such a stupid little world when you were murdering people to take it over,” Thor growled, flaring up at once.

The two of them glared at each other for a long moment.

But Thor was the first to blink as a sudden realization hit him.

And without another word to Loki, he rushed off to find his mother.

He found her in the palace library.

“Mother… what color are Loki’s eyes?” he said, interrupting her soft greeting.

Frigga frowned, her eyebrows knitting together.

“Thor, they’ve always been green. Why—”

“Loki’s eyes are blue now, Mother. I have noticed it before, but I thought it was a trick of the light. But just now, when I was visiting his cell…”

As she listened, Frigga’s eyes widened, staring at some point behind Thor.

And then she stood abruptly and hurried off. Thor followed her closely.

She did not stop until they were standing in front of Loki’s cell. Loki stopped pacing his cell to look, not at Thor, but at their mother. Frigga waved a hand, and manacles appeared around Loki’s wrists, with chains leading to the floor on the spot where he stood. As this happened, the magical barrier split and drew back, wide enough for Thor and Frigga to walk through. Thor followed his mother, Mjolnir tight in his grip.

“Oh, brilliant, you’ve brought Mother,” Loki said, rolling his eyes. “Come to sing some festive songs or something?”

“Be still,” Frigga said, in a soft but commanding tone.

Loki immediately went quiet and stopped sneering as Frigga reached up and gently held Loki’s chin, staring into his face.

After a long moment, Frigga drew back. Her hands moved in a strange pattern, leaving trails of blue light. And then she touched Loki’s forehead. For several moments, the two of them stood there, unmoving.

And then Frigga gasped and stepped back.

Thor saw two tears on her face.

“Oh, my son…” she said quietly.

Thor expected Loki to resume his sneer, perhaps offer a biting remark. But he simply stood there, a stony expression on his face.

Frigga swiped her tears away.

“I will return later,” she said.

She turned and strode quickly out of the cell, and Thor hurried to follow.

They walked in silence for several long minutes, Frigga appearing deep in thought. Finally, they stopped at a door that Thor knew led to his mother’s private study. His mother waved a hand, and the door opened. She walked quickly to a small table in the corner, which had nothing on it but a large mirror.

Frigga touched it, and the surface rippled, turning black. It continued to ripple for about a minute.

“Come on… come on…” Frigga muttered. “Pick up…”

Finally, the ripples ceased and the black brightened back into a mirror-like surface, but instead of showing the study, it showed a different room, and instead of Frigga and Thor, it showed a pale, bald woman in yellow robes.

“My friend, I know it has been a long time—” Frigga began.

“Fifty-seven years since your last visit, by my count,” sighed the woman. “And four months since your last call. But I know things have not been easy for the Asgardians lately. What troubles you, Frigga?”

“I require aid with a complex enchantment. I believe it to be the work of one of the Infinity Stones.”

The woman stiffened.

“An Infinity Stone?” she repeated.

Frigga nodded.

“Something has tampered with the mind of my younger son, Loki. It may be part of the reason he wreaked havoc on Midgard last year. Whatever has been done to him, I cannot break through it on my own.”

“So you think sorcery can do what your Asgardian magic and witchcraft cannot?”

“I think it more likely that we need to combine our efforts,” Frigga said.

The woman, though apparently deep in thought now, was nodding.

“I see. I’ll leave instructions with the Masters and Guardians here. Send the Bifrost to Greenwich Village. Heimdall should know the place.”

“I’ll send Thor to escort you.”

“Thank you.”

Frigga waved a hand, and the image was gone.

“Who was that?” Thor asked.

“You’re not the only one with Midgardian friends, Thor,” his mother replied, with a small smile. “That was the current Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. They call her the Ancient One.”

Chapter Text

Norwegian for “Fix the damage”

“I notice you’ve put in some new trees out front. They look lovely.”

The speaker was a bald woman in yellow robes, walking swiftly beside Frigga towards the throne room, where the All-Father was waiting to welcome their guest. Thor trailed behind them. The woman, the Ancient One, had not shown the faintest trace of surprise when Thor had stepped out of a blackened circle of runes on her rooftop. She had merely given instructions to someone who appeared to be a trusted assistant for the circle to be cleared away after her departure, and then she had calmly followed Thor back into the circle.

She had been equally calm about the journey from Himinbjörg to the palace, where his mother was waiting at the entrance for them. Now, though she bowed to Odin, she did not seem in the least intimidated by him, and maintained an attitude of respectful serenity.

“I am told that you can help my son,” Odin said gravely. He had descended from his throne as soon as the formalities were observed. He looked tired and a little anxious.

“I will do what is in my power to help him, yes,” the Ancient One said. “But my power alone is not enough. It will take at least the three of us working together.”

“Frigga tells me that Loki’s madness may have been caused by an Infinity Stone.”

“Yes. I trust Frigga’s judgement on that. The power of the Infinity Stones is great, but not infallible. When only one stone is at the root of something, it is much easier to handle.”

“But still not easy, I take it.”

The Ancient One smiled.

“You are correct, Your Highness. It will take substantial effort from the three of us, but it is not impossible to do.”

Odin nodded.

“Then let us proceed at once.”

Thor followed in the wake of his father, his mother, and their guest down to the palace dungeon. He knew considerably less about magic than his mother and brother, since it had never interested him much, but he did know enough about the Infinity Stones to be worried. They were elements of the creation of the universe.

And they could just as easily be the destruction of the universe.

If Loki had been in league with someone who had an Infinity Stone—whether by choice, coercion, or manipulation—things were likely even more tangled and complex than what they already were.

Finally, they reached Loki’s cell. Frigga waved a hand and the enchanted chains bound Loki’s hands once again. The party entered Loki’s cell.

Loki scoffed.

“To what do I owe this pleasure? The king himself, visiting me?”

No one replied.

“Let us begin,” the Ancient One said briskly.

She began to walk slowly around Loki, tracing strange patterns of orange light in the air. A glowing orange circle, etched with what looked like runes, appeared around him on the floor.

“Frigga,” she said, as she took a position to the left of Loki.

Frigga began walking in the opposite direction, tracing swirls of blue light in the air. Blue runes joined the orange ones, and the circle began to rotate slowly.

Frigga took a position to Loki’s right.

“All-Father,” the Ancient One said.

Odin stepped forward, but instead of tracing another circle, he closed his working eye, held out his trident, and paused. Then, with a deep breath, he drove the end of the trident into the floor with a loud “THWAK,” causing the circle to turn a bright gold.

The circle began to rotate faster.

The Ancient One, Frigga, and Odin had all closed their eyes and appeared to be murmuring different incantations. The Ancient One and Frigga continued to trace patterns of blue and orange light. Odin did not move, but pale golden light flowed from his trident like glittering ribbons.

The circle rotated even faster, and smaller gold rings began to encircle Loki’s body.

Suddenly, all the circles turned a dark amber color. The lights in Loki’s cell began to flicker ominously. All three of the magic-wielders appeared to be expending an even greater effort to maintain their spell.

“THOR!” Frigga cried.

She gave no instruction. Thor had never learned magic as Loki had. He had nothing to offer but his hammer.

There was only one thing his mother could really ask of him right now.

Without another thought, Thor swung his hammer and slammed it down into the outermost ring of runes.

Blue-white lightning arced around the room. The light from the circle was blinding.

When it finally stopped, Thor got slowly to his feet. His father was helping his mother stand. The Ancient One was bent over with her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

And Loki…

Loki had dropped to his knees and was looking up slowly. There were tears in his eyes.

“M…Mother?”

Thor ran to his brother and helped him up.

“Thor…”

The lights had gone back to normal. Thor could see that Loki’s eyes had returned to their original green color.

Thor said nothing. He simply embraced his brother.

“Loki.”

They both turned. It was Odin.

“The line between what you have done as a result of the Titan’s control and what you have done of your own free will is blurred in many places. You must pay for your crimes… but I will not withhold my love from you. I have raised you as my son, and that is what you are to me, regardless of your actions. And for my failures as a father, I am truly sorry. We cannot change the past… but I hope you will walk with us into a better future.”

Odin held out a hand to him.

Loki hesitated, and then reached out and took it. Odin dropped his trident and pulled Loki into a hug.

“I’m sorry, my son,” he said softly.

Loki buried his face in his father’s shoulder, just as Thor remembered him doing as a child.

Frigga joined Odin in embracing Loki. And Thor, after taking a moment to set down his hammer, joined them too.

They stayed like that for quite awhile, until a soft cough interrupted them.

“I apologize,” the Ancient One said. “But we have grave matters to discuss. The spell revealed visions of the past. The Titan, the one called Thanos… he presents a danger to us all. Prince Loki, I must ask your assistance in facing this threat.”

Loki swallowed.

“If it will remove some of the stain of my actions… I will help,” he replied.

The Ancient One nodded, giving him a small smile. Then she took a deep breath.

“Have you got any tea?” she asked, looking at Frigga. The Ancient One looked rather winded.

Frigga shook her head and smiled slightly.

“Our cellars have every wine, ale, and mead imaginable, but no. My apologies,” she said. “However, I do keep a store of fruit juice in the kitchens. Will that do?”

The Ancient One smiled.

“Yes, that will do nicely.”

Frigga touched Loki’s shoulder.

“I shall return soon.”

Frigga motioned to the Ancient One, and the two of them left.

Loki looked at Thor.

He wasn’t exactly smiling, but for the first time in months, he didn’t have an ounce of hate in his eyes.

Thor smiled at him and clapped a hand on Loki’s shoulder.

“Welcome back, Brother,” he said quietly.

-0-O-0-

Loki remembered the rage he had felt when he learned of his true parentage. Loki remembered how angry he was that Odin would allow Thor, an arrogant oaf, to take the throne. Loki remembered the horrible satisfaction he felt as he rained destruction on the Midgardians.

But seeing the pain on his mother’s face… knowing that she and Odin considered him worth saving… seeing Thor add his might to theirs to finish breaking the Mind Stone’s hold over Loki…

Despite all he had done, they still loved him enough to try and save him, even though he didn’t deserve it.

For more than a year, he had thought himself too far gone for them to ever want back.

Even when the giant green beast had beaten the Mind Stone’s influence out of him—albeit temporarily—he had not fought to remain out of its grasp.

It had taken not only the power of three extremely potent magic users, but his own decision to be saved.

And the strike of his brother’s hammer had helped him finally make that leap and accept salvation.

He was still wanted.

He was still loved.

Despite everything.

Thor’s hand rested on his shoulder, warm and heavy and dependably solid, reminding him of all this.

“Welcome back, Brother.”

There was still much to be repaired, but Loki, for the first time in a very long time, felt a touch of hope.

He gave Thor a tiny smile.