A/N: *sigh* I'm not sure if I like the flow of this, but I've been toying with it all evening. Hopefully it comes across better to you than it does to me.

Also, for fellow Doctor Who fans out there, anyone have any thoughts on the Twelfth Doctor casting choice?

Part Seven

The entire battle froze in place as the Avengers realized what had happened. The spell that they had been relying on was broken and the caster gave a pained sound as blood fell from his lips. Thor cried out again, but his voice seemed lost into the vastness of space around them.

"So what happens if he dies and we're all in here?" Tony managed.

"I don't think we want to find out," Steve answered, readying his shield. A brief glance in Thor's direction told him that the crowned prince of Asgard was ready to leap forward at any moment. Perhaps, if nothing else, they could have Loki pull them from the dream and regroup on the other side to try again. It was a step back and it would be difficult to try this more than once, but he didn't see another choice that would present itself.

You thought you could defeat us? The Other's gravely voice sounded all around them and he pulled hard on the scepter in his hands, causing the dark haired prince to cringe. Even with your friends you are weak. Open the portal, trickster, and this will be done.

Loki's eyes were closed, pain causing every muscle to tense as the creature spoke. He could barely pull the air into his lungs that he needed and at that moment he could not be sure if this were a dream or not. He just wanted it to end. Hadn't he suffered enough? He just wanted to go home...

You have no home.

Green eyes snapped open. Yes he did. He had a home and a life that he had fought for to get back. He had sacrificed for. There was proof that the nightmare was no longer based in reality by his brother calling for him. A determined look crossed his features and thin lips pulled into a smile. "It's different now," he rasped.

The Other's eyes may have widened behind their veil, but Loki couldn't see. All that anyone saw was the burst of magic that threw the Chitauri back and the fight began anew.

Thor knocked everything out of the way that stood between he and his brother, reaching Loki's side as the younger prince fell to his knees. Large hands took hold of his shoulders, cradling him. "It's just a dream, brother," he reminded him softly. "We can go. We'll come back and-"

"We need to finish this now. We will never have a chance like this one," the trickster murmured. He glanced up, hoping that his smile eased his elder brother's worries. The strong hands protecting him reminded that this was a dream. The wounds were not real and the pain would pass. He took a steadying breath. "Stay?"

"Of course," Thor breathed.

"He's going for it again," Steve managed as he dodged a near hit. A smile perked his lips. "We've been underestimating him."

"Umm, I don't think that Thanos guy is going to take this well," Tony managed, pointing towards the mutant that was stalking towards the Asgardian brothers. Loki's focus was back to the spell and Thor's focus was on Loki, neither looking at the approaching threat.

Hulk was the first to him, giving an angry cry as he slammed his fist down to catch him. Thanos turned, though, catching he punch mid swing and threw the Avenger back like he'd been little more than a pest. Steve and Tony looked at each other, eyes wide at the sight, and nodded, each taking a different direction. One large hand took hold of the Iron Man, swinging him around so that he slammed fully into the blond captain and they both rolled out of the way. Thanos continued on.

Thor glanced back, unable to ignore the threat any longer. "Whatever happens, brother, it is only a dream unless they get through," he murmured. The god of thunder stood, swinging Mjolnir around, but it was caught just as the Hulk had been. "We cannot be defeated here, monster."

A twisted smile spread across Thanos' face. "What makes you think he won't give in as he did before?"

Thor met the smile with a confident one of his own. "We've grown." He had no time to respond, even with the speed he possessed, as Thanos swung him around, slamming him into the ground. He could see Loki glance up, brows drawn in worry, but his lips still moved with the spell. He had heard his elder brother.

The sound could be heard all across the rock as Thanos slammed him again and again until Thor went entirely limp in his grasp. "This could have been easier," the mutant muttered, turning his gaze to the sorcerer. "I have lost my patience."

Words ceased to flow from the god of mischief and he looked up from his spot. There was only a moment, a very brief moment, in which he thought that he might be torn to pieces, but then the pull began and he saw the recognition in the looming creature's eyes as a triumphant smirk was the last he saw of the trickster as the hole he'd used to pull them through to the dream snapped closed and they were gone from it.

Tony came to first and he gave a groan. "I thought there weren't supposed to be any lasting effects from a dream," he groused.

"He got it closed then?" Steve asked from his place. He was holding his head as well, eyes a bit blurred as if he were still trying to find his footing in wakeful reality. He looked over, Bruce looking much like he and Tony, but the princes were still in their places, neither having budged. He stood stiffly from the chair he'd been in, but found Tony moving past him.

"Shouldn't they be awake by now?" the inventor asked as he put a hand to Thor's throat, checking the pulse. It was there, but he couldn't be sure what was strong or weak for an Asgardian pulse. He glanced over to where Loki was slumped down in his own seat, eyelids still fluttering as if he were in the dream, and dark red soaking through his green tunic. "I thought if everything went well that none of the injuries should have come through."

Loki gave a low groan as if in response, green eyes slipping open. He found each Avenger looking at him and he shifted, wincing as he did. "Well damn," he muttered, hand going to the wound. It was not nearly as deep or dangerous as it had been in the dreamscape, but it was enough to keep him from popping directly to his feet. He looked at each of them and then to the place that he knew his brother had taken to enter the dream. "Thor."

The blond prince was still limp and Tony took a step back away from him. "What the hell happened at the end?"

"It would appear that Thanos had a plan to fall back on if I continued to refuse to open his portal," Loki murmured, forcing himself unsteadily to his feet so that he could take a knee next to Thor. "He'd nearly opened the smaller portal enough to come through. Any delay in closing it would have allowed him passage to this realm. It would appear that Thor and I were too close to that rift." He frowned as he reached out to his brother, thin fingers hovering over him. The injuries that the thunderer had sustained were, like Loki's own, lesser than they had been in the dream realm, but some had remained.

"Is he alright?"

Loki glanced back, but his brother's blue eyes fluttered open before he could answer. One large hand reached up and a smaller one met it. "It's closed?"

"Yes."

"Then we've stopped him," Thor murmured, his voice thick as he squeezed his younger brother's hand. "Everyone?"

"Everyone came through," Loki acknowledged.

"You and Loki received the worst end of it it looks like," Steve acknowledged.

Thor nodded, glancing at the trickster. He frowned at the blood, but Loki shook his head. "It's not bad," he said with a smile.

He watched his brother sit up slowly, wincing as he did. With all the determination that he had always known in him, the god of thunder reached his feet and took a look around Tony Stark's living room. "Then we have returned victorious. Midgard is safe." He glanced down to where Loki had not bothered to stand. He offered a hand to him. "As are you."

A smile stretched across thin lips and he took his brother's hand and was pulled to his feet and into a tight embrace. He didn't squirm out of it, but as the memory of Thanos beating his brother into the ground replayed again and again in his mind, he wrapped long arms around him carefully and returned it.

Tony Stark was not one that partook in blind faith. He prefered his proof solid and tangible, with little room to counter on either side. Growing up, he hadn't entirely believed his father when Howard had told him stories of a super soldier from the second World War, but Steve Rogers was a difficult man to deny when set face-to-face with him. The inventor still wasn't sure he would consider the Asgardian brothers as gods, but after the events of this particular adventure, he had seen quite a bit more than he ever thought he would.

Fury was interrogating - debriefing was the technical term, but Tony was sure that if he were to interrogate them it wouldn't be much different - Thor in a downstairs office. He'd spoken briefly to Loki, but the dark haired prince had been released to wander the halls until his brother was ready for the return trip home. Stark found him sitting on the ledge of the deck that the Asgardian had thrown him over and beyond just a few years prior.

"Rare for you to seek me out," Loki murmured as Tony approached him from behind.

"Yeah, well, times change and all that," the mortal said with a shrug. He took a seat next to him without invite and handed him a glass with a couple of cubes of ice that were floating in amber liquid. "How 'bout that drink?"

The god of mischief chuckled and accepted the peace offering. He turned his gaze back out to the city. "I won't won't say it often, nor will I admit to saying it now, but you people have an amazing skill for coming back from tragedy."

"Yeah, it's pretty hard to take us down."

"Hope for humanity yet."

Tony took a drink from his own glass. "How're you feeling?"

"Better. I'll be perfectly whole in a day or two." Green eyes shifted back and Loki turned to watch him fully. Stark appeared uncomfortable where he sat, as if he'd come for a purpose and then lost his nerve. Dark eyebrows rose in question.

"Listen," the inventor murmured, his usual smooth voice halted and awkward. "I'm not often wrong, but I usually try to come out and say it when I am. Sometimes it takes a while, but... Well..." He shifted again when the prince said nothing and he sucked in a deep breath. "I know what it's like to be taken against your will, to have them want to... use your skills."

"You've experienced the like?"

Tony tapped against his chest, a small sound coming from the ARC reactor there. "Yeah. Nearly killed me."

Loki offered him an understanding smile. "It seems we've found common ground, Stark."

"Would have liked to have found it in a better place," he murmured in response, pulling his legs under him to stand. "Just because they're dealt with and put away doesn't mean that they won't haunt you."

"This is true." Loki perked as he heard his name called from inside. "Though I'd say we both have our anchors to pull us back from such dark depths."

Tony grinned broadly and clinked his glass to Loki's. He didn't say anything, but the acknowledgement was there, as was yet another unspoken truce between the god of mischief and another Avenger. It was not all bad, Loki thought as approached Thor and his brother reached out a hand for him. He rolled his eyes as one large arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him along and a thundering laugh escaping from the taller Asgardian.

"Ready?" Thor asked, releasing him.

Loki straightened and brushed off his clothes, the corners of his mouth quirking at the edges. "Let's go home," he agreed, pulling them through the branches of Yggdrasil to the Realm Eternal.

END

A/N: So, I received a request from the fantastic The Pearl Maiden for a story in which the brothers need to rescue Rowen. The ideas been tossing around in my head and I think I've come up with what may be a plot to go along with it, so that's what I plan to embark on next. I plan to start it tomorrow, so I should begin posting it tomorrow or Tuesday... Wednesday at the latest.