"What were you thinking?! We were so close to getting permission from Fury to settle here!" Thor yelled as he paced the small room.

Loki stood against one of the walls, leaning back with his arms crossed.

"He threatened to kill Brunnhilde, and you and I both know that the minor stab wound I gave Fury was just to incapacitate him long enough to evade capture. Everything is fine!"

Thor shook his head, crossing the room to stand in front of Loki.

"No. Everything is very not fine! Fury has agents crawling all over the city with warrants out for your arrest! Why in the nine realms did you stab the head of an organization that holds more power than we even know?!"

Loki sighed.

"I'm not ready to give up my freedom just because he doesn't trust me. These people need to trust me more than Fury does, because let's face it, brother. They're scared. They need solid leaders who currently aren't being held against their will at a SHIELD base!"

They glared at each other for one intense moment.

"I get it. You don't want to deal with Fury's crap."

Loki threw his head back and sighed.

"You don't get it. You think you do, but you don't. I don't care what Fury throws in my face. He can talk as much as he wants about me."

His eyes met Thor's, and the blonde could've sworn that he saw tears glistening in them.

"I can't live my life like this, Thor. I don't want to constantly be on the run, but I also don't want to live my life in shackles. The thing is, I feel like I'm barely free. I don't think that I have any hope left."

Thor could see it in Loki's eyes. He really was afraid.

"Look, Loki. I can't pretend to know what you've been through, so I'm not going to try to. But listen to me when I say that I will do whatever I can to help you. No one's going to put you in a cage, and no one will ever touch you again."

The trickster smiled as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"I wish you trusted me."

Thor's expression hardened.

"I'll trust you when you give me a reason to."

Loki let out the breath of air that he'd been holding in and left the room.

The truth was, Thor trusted Loki with his life, but it didn't feel that way sometimes, and it was hard to let it show. One thing was certain, however. If they kept hiding their true feelings, it would tear them apart.
***
The first body was found three days after the incident at SHIELD. Thor and Loki had gone into the city in disguise to expand the amount of midgardian clothes and rations they had stowed away at their temporary settlement. Loki had ditched the suit he'd worn last time they'd visited Midgard and instead wore his usual black leather pants, a plain green t shirt, a black hoodie that covered his eyes, and a pair of dark sunglasses. Thor also went for an inconspicuous look and went for casual Earth clothes with a red baseball cap and sunglasses. His eyepatch had been magically covered up by an illusion that Loki created, making it look like the king had both of his eyes.

They had traveled through the city for no less than twenty minutes before Thor froze.

"By the Norns...." He breathed, staring down the alley in front of him.

"What is it, Thor? What do you see?"

The blonde motioned for Loki to step closer, causing the trickster's boot to step in something sticky.

"What...."

His voice faded as he realized what he'd stepped in.

A pool of crimson liquid had trickled down the alley.

Blood.

The two brothers slowly moved down through the darkness, following the trail of blood that snaked down the dark pavement. The trail ended at a disturbing sight. The corpse of a maiden with fair skin and light blonde hair was crumpled in a heap behind a dumpster. Her eyelids hadn't been closed, revealing cold, lifeless, unseeing eyes of an icy blue color staring straight ahead.

Thor stumbled backwards a bit, feeling nauseous, but Loki couldn't look away.

"Loki....I think she's of Asgard."

Loki nodded, his eyes transfixed on the unlucky woman. Her heritage was evident in her pale blue Asgardian robes. Blood seeped through her dress from her side and leaked onto the concrete.

Thor drew in a sharp breath as he saw the stab wound. A painful memory crossed his mind.

"Brother, that is the same way our mother died."

Something darkened in Loki's face then, and green magic swirled around his fingertips.

"Was it painless?"

Thor should have seen the look on his brother's face, but he deserved to know the truth.

"She died before she hit the ground. It was quick. She felt nothing."

The moment the words left his lips, he was blasted back by Loki's magic. The younger Asgardian's face was contorted in rage, pain, and grief.

"You let her die. You could have been there quicker if you hadn't been so worried about your mortal. YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER!"

He arched his hand back, preparing for another blast, but was hit by an arc of electricity. Lightning sparked and fizzled in the palms of Thor's hands as he sent a devastating blow at his brother.

"Loki. You're not thinking clearly. Stand down."

Loki didn't waste a moment to catch his breath as he darted to the side, dodging another blast and driving a dagger through Thor's chest.

The blonde collapsed from the wound, his eyes filled with hurt and betrayal.

"Thor....no....I...."

Blood trickled out of his brother's mouth as he realized that the wound was fatal.

"Hold on. I'll get you back to the warehouse."

He grabbed Thor's hand and ripped off part of his hoodie, balling it up and using it to apply pressure to the wound. He teleported them both to he warehouse, where Korg was waiting.

"What happened?" The kronan asked with worry in his voice.

"There's not time to explain. Where is Doctor Banner?"

Korg pointed down the hall, and Loki helped Thor stand by putting one arm across his shoulders and dragging him forward.

By the time he found Bruce, Thor had lost a lot of blood.

"Save him." He said as he laid Thor down at Bruce's feet.

"I'm a scientist, not a medical doctor! What did you do?!"

Loki sighed.

"We had....a disagreement. Usually when I stab him he recovers quickly, but I think....I think the blade hit a major artery."

Bruce put his head in his hands and groaned.

"You usually stab him?! Is that a normal thing for you?!"

Loki tried to divert the conversation away from his past with his brother and back to the major issue at hand.

"Now is not the time to worry about that. How can we save him? I'll do whatever it takes. Thor will not die by my hand. Not today."

Banner concentrated for a moment, and when he finally met Loki's eyes, he looked nervous.

"There's only one place we can go to save your brother. A normal hospital will be too suspicious....we have to go back to SHIELD."

The trickster considered this, weighing his options. His brother's life was on the line.

"Look, I could try and operate on him here, but his rate of survival will drop exponentially the longer it takes me to figure out how to save him. It comes down to one thing, Loki. This is your call. Which is more important? Your freedom at risk, or your brother's life?"

Knowing what he had to do, Loki helped Bruce lift his brother off of the ground.

"We're going to SHIELD."